


The Dark Side Or The Light?

by ExarSunrider



Series: Youth Wars [2]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: AU, Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Galactic Empire, Gen, Mystery, Post-Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Post-Star Wars: Rebels, Post-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Post-Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Post-Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Pre-Star Wars: A New Hope, Pre-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Rebellion, Sci-Fi, Star Wars - Freeform, Starwars - Freeform, The Dark Side - Freeform, The Force, The Light, Very Alternate Universe, during Star Wars: A New Hope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-08 23:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 48,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15254793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExarSunrider/pseuds/ExarSunrider
Summary: In this Youth Wars prequel: after the Battle of Scarif, a new dark sider takes the Imperial throne on Lothal. He seems to know the Ghost crew's every move, and to everyone else, he seems to be unstoppable. The Ghost crew -along with Jedi Besalisk Aang- will have to give everything they have to take this new foe down.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Chapter 1

**_This isn't my best work, but I couldn't do it any other way. If you think it's bad, I know; I kinda think so too. If you think it's good, then good for you._ **

**_Updated 9-12-18: I am happy to announce that I will basically be rewriting this story. It will be so much better than this not-so-well written version._ **

  
The Ghost crew had just narrowly escaped the battle over Scarif. They were informed of a shipment that was set to be delivered to the Death Star, and were sent to stop it before it reached its destination. But the mission was very difficult for them, there were several groups of TIE Fighters, which shortly overwhelmed the short division of the rebellion sent there.

  
"We need some backup here. Half the fleet is on us!" The Jedi padawan, known as Ezra Bridger, informed General Dodonna via internal comlink from the cockpit of the Ghost. "Man, either we're getting worse, or they're actually practicing their aiming." He said.

  
"Ezra, you of all people should know better." Sabine Wren called out from the nosegun. Hera Syndulla smirked and thought to herself, _'I was about to say that.'_

  
Some of Phoenix Squadron diverted and helped the Ghost out with the TIEs. Not many TIEs were left chasing the Ghost now.

  
The Ghost found itself facing the target of their mission. An Imperial Star Destroyer carried loads of crates with special equipment for the Death Star and, according to some reports, supplies that would come in handy for the rebellion.

  
"There it is." Hera grinned. "Kanan! Can you hit the target? It's just ahead!" She asked through the comm system.

  
Kanan Jarrus sat in the dorsal laser cannon turret, placed at the top of the Ghost. "Hera, have you paid any attention to anything I've accomplished in my blindness in the past few years?" He answered with a grin. Then he focused and aimed. He shot at the star destroyer a few times, successfully releasing the cargo from its hold.

  
"Nice job Kanan." Garazeb Orrelios called from under Kanan.

  
"I got all of it?" Kanan asked.

  
"Yep."

  
"Wow. Aang, have I ever thanked you for these gun upgrades?" Kanan asked the Besalisk known as Aang, who was standing beside Zeb.

  
"Only every time you used them." Aang replied, holding back a laugh.

  
"Well they're very handy." Kanan added.

  
"You say that every time also." Aang said.

  
The Ghost and a command ship flew by and picked up all of the supplies. But shortly afterwards, Kanan and Ezra blacked out.

  
\---

  
Kanan and Ezra found themselves in a Lothalian alleyway.

  
"Why are we back here?" Ezra asked.

  
They heard several, loud shouts erupting from outside of the alley. Then they saw several people running past the alley and Kanan and Ezra sneaked up to the corner of the alley and peeked out. They saw a huge crowd, being held back by Death Troopers. Then they saw seven villagers being dragged up on an elevated platform by six stormtroopers and a mysterious figure in black attire and a mask. The villagers were placed on their knees, then the sith-like figure spoke.

  
" **Rebellion of the galaxy**!" The sith shouted with a very deep and mechanized voice, " **You have threatened the Empire with your treachery long enough**! **IF YOU DON'T SURRENDER** , **these people**... **your people**... **will pay for your mistakes**!" The sith then ignited two red lightwhips and scourged the villagers to death. Ezra looked horrified. The Imperial continued, " **Every day** , **the number of the slaughtered will increase sevenfold**! **If you don't surrender by this time in seven days** , **Lothal will be gone**!" Then Kanan and Ezra woke up.

  
\---

  
Kanan and Ezra woke in medical bays. Kanan checked on Ezra, not sensing any feelings of anger or hated from him. Relieved, he spoke up, "Ezra?" He called.  
It took a moment for him to respond.

  
"Kanan, we have to go back. We can't let this guy end Lothal." Ezra said. If he was scared for the citizens of Lothal in any way, he did a good job of hiding it.

  
"We will Ezra. We will. Maybe not immediately, but we will. Soon." Kanan replied, but continued afterwards, "The Empire's intelligence grows with every challenge we face. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: things were never this hard back in the Clone Wars. By the way the Empire's advancing, there's a chance they may overcome us."

  
"You were never one to lose hope." Ezra said quietly.

  
"Those people will _not_ suffer, and we are _not_ surrendering." Hera confidently proclaimed, entering the med-bay.

  
"I assume you saw it on the holonet?" Kanan assumed.

  
"Yes." She replied.

  
"Then you should know that this is _definitely **not**_ something to be optomistic about. He is too precautionary. In our vision, we saw a lot more than you could. There were at least two battalions guarding the city." Kanan said.

 

"We don't _know_ how much there was. We were only in an alley corner." Ezra said, making a point.

  
"Yes, but as I've also said, you don't need to see something to know it's there. I sensed multiple AT-AT Walkers, two squads of Death Troopers on the ground, and, frankly, _many_ TIEs scouting the air. And that was just the entrance to the city." Kanan said, with his arms crossed.

  
"Wow! Well, how are we going to fight this?" Ezra asked.

  
"Sometimes it's not fighting we need to focus on." Aang said, entering the room.

  
"That is true, Aang." Kanan acknowledged the statement.

  
"How are we going to tell everyone else?" Ezra asked.

  
"They know." Hera answered.

  
"And what will we do to prepare?" Kanan asked.

  
"We will wait and see what happens." Hera said.

  
\---

  
The formerly dead Cumberlayne Aresko was summoned to the office of the sith, known as Bando Roscoe. He entered the room and sat down in the chairs in front of the desk.

  
"I suppose you're wondering why I called you here?" The sith asked, in his chair facing the window.

  
"Well no, but now that you mention it-" Aresko started off, but was interrupted.

  
"I sensed something... _off_ , about you and Myles Grint."

  
"Off?" Aresko asked after a moment of thought.

  
"I sensed a shadow of doubt within you both."

  
"Well, um-"

  
"It seems as though you are not comfortable with my actions." The sith turned his chair around, facing Aresko. "Is that so?"

  
"Um, well, I just think it might be too much, slaughtering the innocent." Aresko stuttered.

  
Bando clicked his tongue. "As if we haven't done it before. You are seeming to pity the lives of the people over serving the purpose of your Empire. Over keeping it in peace."

  
"Well no, I just-"

  
"We, have no mercy." Bando said, standing up. "Because we, will do whatever we can to draw the rebellion to us, to destroy them. They care too much about the people, therefore they won't be able to stand to see the people suffer the way they will."

  
"Understood."

  
"I expect neither you, nor Grint, who is standing behind the door listening to us, to forget your places. And especially, I expect you both not to forget _who_ , brought you back."

  
"Yes sir." Aresko said, quietly.

  
"You both are excused." The sith finished.

  
Aresko left the office, now feeling nervous. He found Grint standing on the opposite side of the hall he was before the previous conversation started. They started walking away, soon passing Colonel Yularen.

  
Colonel Yularen entered Bando's office. "You summoned me." Yularen said.

  
"Yes. It is time to commence the next stage of my plan."

  
"Yes, sir."

  
"The rebellion will not be able to stand the genocide of the so-called _innocents_." Bando said.

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Chapter 2: The Dark Side

 

A day passed, and Bando received nothing from Phoenix Squadron. He peered out of his office window, hoping to soon catch a shift in the force. Then an officer entered the room. "Sir, you have a new order from the Emperor." He said, handing Bando a datapad.

  
"Vader is after the insurgents who stole the Death Star plans, and he wants me to _guard_ the Death Star." Bando muttered to himself. "Very well. Officer, prepare my shuttle." He then said aloud.

  
The sith went down to the newly installed courtyard and approached his shuttle. He was met by a Death Trooper.

  
"Forty-nine people are accounted for." The trooper said.

  
"Good. The time has almost come." Bando said. Then he boarded his shuttle.

  
He made his way to the bridge and sat in his chair. "Set a course for the weapon." Bando shouted to his crew.

  
"Yes sir." They responded.

  
"The rebellion will see our true colors soon enough." Bando muttered. Then the shuttle lifted off, entered space, and took off at lightspeed.

  
After a moment, Bando went down to the prison level, taking an escort with him. When he entered the room, the forty-nine prisoners started shouting. There were seven cages, and each cage held seven people, chained to the bars.

  
" **If you all don't cooperate** , **you will find yourselves in a worse condition**." Bando shouted, soon calming the room down.

  
Then Bando entered one of the cages to interrogate the people. He looked at the prisoners, then kneeled in front of one who was hanging his head.

  
"What do _you_ know about Phoenix Squadron?" He asked. The villager kept his head down. Bando lifted his chin and stared. The villager didn't need to see the sith's face to know he was glaring.

  
"Tell me, what you know, and I will let you go sooner." Bando said. Still the prisoner said nothing.

  
"I had troopers bring forty-nine specific people here for a reason. I don't pick random _street rats_ to interrogate. And with every rebel attack, more of the peoples' intelligence of the rebellion grows. Of that I know. And you know of the punishment of _un_ cooperation, so decide your fate wisely." Bando said.

  
"I don't know much about them, but I know that they're after a cargo I received news about." The villager said.

  
"And what cargo are you referring to?" Bando pressed on, bringing a hand up to his face, using the force to lightly tap his brain with slight migrane phases.

  
"A shipment of green crystals." The villager replied slowly.

  
"And where did you tell them they would find it?" Bando asked, starting to grin under the helmet.

  
"Passing around the Ryloth sector." The villager said.

  
Bando grinned and stood up. "Thank you for your cooperation." Then he quickly drew out his lightsaber and sliced up his chest, culling him, then pulling back. The prisoners stirred again.

  
"I said I'd let him go sooner; I didn't say that he wouldn't die!" Bando shouted. "They get riled up so easily" He said quietly. He turned to one of the troopers and said, "Be sure to get this, so the rebels will."

  
And now Bando was being broadcast.

  
"In the past day, I have not yet received a reply from you rebels. Now witness the consequence." Bando said. He walked over to the doorway and motioned for the troopers to stand behind the doorway. Bando pressed a button and the floor opened up from under the cages and sucked them out into deep space, while still in hyperspace. The second the cages were out of eyesight, Bando turned on the shields to prevent him and the other troopers from getting sucked out.

  
"That was a bit less harsh than the first, and honestly more random." Bando mumbled. "Considered surrendering? Don't keep your precious innocents waiting, Phoenix Squadron. Oh, and I hope you enjoy my _'gift'_." Bando said, then the recording stopped.

  
"It won't be long before they break." Bando said.

  
"Are we going to go after them, sir? They have the crystal." A stormtrooper asked.

  
        "No," Bando turned to face the trooper before continuing, "They don't have the crystals. I sent the small fleet that was supposed to have the crystals. But thinking of the possibility that they could fall into wrong hands made me do otherwise. That's why _I'm_ bringing in the crystals myself." Bando started walking away, but stopped to clarify. "Instead of the crystals, the rebels have received something better, and I know they'll have a _blast_ with it." Then Bando walked away, quietly but maniacally laughing.

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

Chapter 3: The Light Side

  
_**(If you haven't read 'Youth Wars Part I: Pilot,' then I'd recommend it; it's a part of the series.)** _

  
Ezra woke up in the med-bay, slowly. Remembering the situation, he sat up and regained his energy. He got up and quickly exited the bay, greeted by Kanan.

  
"Oh, Kanan! Anything else happen while I was out?" Ezra asked.

  
"No. But be patient. We will get something soon." Kanan replied.

  
"Hey," Hera called, stepping into the hall, "I got something."

  
Ezra grinned, "Well that paid off." Ezra stifled a laugh when he saw Hera's face.

  
"How bad is it?" Ezra asked.

  
Hera had the Jedi follow her to the common room where the rest of the Ghost crew were. In the room, a hologram was projected from the table. Ezra kneeled down to get a look at it and Kanan joined him. The sith they saw was staring straight at them. Hera played the recording.

  
"In the past day, I have not yet received a reply from you rebels. Now witness the consequence." He said. The rebels watched as the seven cages were sucked out into space. The sith reappeared and requested, "Considered surrendering? Don't leave your precious innocents waiting, Phoenix Squadron. Oh, and I hope you enjoy my _'gift.'_ " Then the recording stopped.

  
Kanan and Ezra were taken aback when the sith said and emphasised the word 'gift'.

  
"Hera, what exactly were in the crates we stole?" Kanan asked.

  
"There was nothing." Hera replied.

  
"Why would there be nothing in the crates if they were putting up such an effort to guard it?" Zeb asked.

  
"I think that sith has a hand in it. It was probably over secured to make it seem realistic." Ezra suggested.

  
 _'Seem real?'_ Kanan thought. "Maybe this was his _'gift'_. A diversion."

  
"Doesn't seem likely. Diversion from what?" Ezra asked.

  
"The crystals we were informed about. They weren't in the crates _we_ got, so they must be really important to have to create a diversion over to assure safety of their deliverance." Hera said.

  
"I'm having trouble processing this." Ezra said.

  
"The mission itself was a diversion. And that nothing was found in the crates wasn't the gift. In fact, it wasn't a gift at all." Aang said, stepping into the room while carrying a box. He dumped the box's contents on the floor, revealing them to be disabled bombs. "It was bait."

  
"Wow!" Sabine exclaimed.

  
"That doesn't make sense at all." Hera said.

  
"This is where we know that the Empire is getting smarter, these were built into the crates. I was lucky to disable them at the last second." Aang said.

  
"I am so glad you're on our team. What would we be doing without you?" Ezra said with clear approval.

  
"Nothing." Aang replied. "Remember our first mission together?" He asked. Ezra nodded slowly.

  
 _'All the things we could learn from a sixteen year old.'_ Kanan thought, smiling.

  
"So should we report this?" Ezra asked.

  
"Without a doubt." Hera replied.

  
\---On the Command Bridge---

  
"Bait? Hmm. This level of strategy will certainly limit our strikes." General Dodonna said.

  
"In the meantime, we need to start being productive. The Empire was successfully delivered a shipment of kyber crystals." Kanan said.

  
" _Kyber_ crystals?" Dodonna asked, somewhat surprised.

  
"Yes. It surprises me too." Kanan said.

  
"Where could they get a shipment-worth of kyber crystals?" Dodonna asked.

 

"I don't know." Hera said, slightly looking down. A moment of silence and thought passed.

  
"This _could_ be false information. What if that information was given out just to get us to intercept the cargo, which were bombs. This could just be another plot to destroy us." Ezra spoke up.

  
"I like the way you think, young Bridger. It could've just been a plan to trap us, but it also might not have been." Dodonna said.

  
_Beep, beep, beep._

  
_"_ Or a plan to track us." Kanan said, going up to a window.

  
"We're picking up five ships entering our sector." A rebel called out. Just then, five Star-Destroyers entered rebels' view and released multitudes of TIE Fighters from their hangar bays.

  
"It's a plan to track us." Ezra mumbled, not quite surprised.

  
The Ghost crew headed to the Ghost as the TIEs started firing at the command ships.

  
"How exactly did they find us?" Zeb asked aloud as the crew reached the Ghost.

  
"I don't know. I'll take a closer look at the bombs." Aang replied.

  
The crew readied themselves in the Ghost. Hera sat in the cockpit, joined by Aang shortly after; Kanan manned the dorsal laser cannon turret, guided by Ezra; Sabine occupied the nose gun, and Zeb and Chopper operated the Taim and Bak MS-2B twin laser cannons.

  
"Aang, you got anything?" Hera asked, taking off and blasting TIEs.

  
"I'm on it." He said, facing the bomb he had on his lap. Then without looking up, he exclaimed "Barrel roll." Hera did so, and a blast that came from behind sped forward and hit a TIE that passed by.

  
"Oh my." Aang muttered. He found a small device hidden in the bomb. He looked up to tell Hera, but saw something else.

  
Tons of TIE Fighters. The Ghost was overwhelmed and star destroyers were firing at the command ships.

  
"The Empire really doesn't underestimate you. We need to go." Aang said.

  
Hera was hesitant, but complied. "General Dodonna, what are your orders?" She asked via comm system.

  
"We have no choice but to retreat. The Empire is too strong here. And we need to get to the bottom of this new opponent." Dodonna replied.

  
 _'Last time we had this much trouble was with the siege of Lothal.'_ Hera thought.

  
Any ships that could escape did so. A-Wings docked with the cruisers and ships began escaping the battle through hyperspace. The Ghost, two of three command ships, a few A-Wing fighters, and their stolen Imperial cruiser made it out safely.

  
"Aang?" Hera started as the rest of the crew gathered in the cockpit.

  
"These bombs **_aren't_ ** bombs. These are duds. Whoever set this up is one heck of a leader and strategist." Aang said, holding up the device he found in the bomb, "This is the tracking device."

  
"We are up against something very different, something much better than anything else we've faced. If the Empire can plot something like this out, we will _really_ need to be more careful." Kanan said.

  
"So what do we do?" Ezra asked.

  
"As of now, we can't do anything. We have to lay low and let the force guide us to our next move." Kanan replied.

  
"Just like Garel." Ezra said.

  
"Exactly, Ezra." Kanan said.

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

Chapter 4: The Encounter

  
_**(If you haven't read 'Youth Wars Part I: Pilot,' then I'd recommend it; it's a part of the series.)** _

  
Bando arrived at the Death Star. His ship hovered right beside the docking bay only so much that the entrance of his ship was actually in the docking bay. The entrance opened and the sith jumped out and landed right in front of Grand Moff Tarkin. The bay held an armada of stormtroopers, in which they and Tarkin were expecting Darth Vader.

  
"Well this is unexpected. I wasn't informed that you would be visiting." Tarkin said.

  
"Then you should know that it was the Emperor that sent me." Bando replied.

  
 _'Logical.'_ Tarkin thought, "Did you bring the cargo?"

  
"I did. The crystals will be put to good use. Your not expecting me to bring the cargo has lead me to ask 'who _were_ you expecting?' " Bando asked.

  
"Lord Vader was scheduled to arrive." Tarkin replied.

  
"Ah. Well he's still after the stolen Death Star plans." Bando said.

  
\---

  
"So where are we going to be hiding?" Ezra asked.

  
"We don't know yet, Ezra." Hera answered.

  
"This could be vital to our survival, it needs to be done sooner or later." Kanan said.

  
"Can anyone seriously think of any place that would be safe for us?" Zeb asked.

  
. . .

  
"I have an idea, but it's a long shot." Hera said.

  
\---

  
Bando arrived in a laboratory, dragging a crate carrier with multiple crates on it. Scientists then greeted him at the entrance.

  
"Here's the crystal cargo. Keep these hidden under every circumstance." Bando commanded.

  
"Yes, sir. They'll be safe." One of the scientists replied.

  
"Be sure of it. Your projects and the safety of these crystals will determine the future of the Empire." Bando said, pushing the crates towards the scientists.

  
"We understand." The scientists responded, taking the crates into the lab.

  
"Do you now? What if the rebellion was to somehow invade our secret base?" Bando asked.

  
"We have escape plans for pretty much every situation that could go wrong, sir."

  
"What if our space station blew up?" Bando asked.

  
One of the scientists gave out a small laugh, then said, "That's the most unlikely thing to happen, but yes, we have a plan for that. It's not much different from some of our other options."

  
"Good. Because you know if any of these get lost, it'll cost you your life." Bando then left the room. A few steps down the hall, and he turned his head, sensing something.

  
"They're at it again." He muttered. He hurried to the docking bay and rushed to his ship.

  
"Leaving so soon?" Tarkin asked, spotting him in the bay.

  
"I have some rebels to catch." Bando replied, running aboard.

  
        "Set a course to Lothal, immediately." Bando commanded, and his pilots instantly did so. Bando afterwards showed himself to his private quarters. It was a dark room with only a bed, which was mounted on drawers that held personal belongings. He sat down and took out a holoprojector disc and set it on the floor. He activated it and the image of the Emperor appeared.

  
"My Lord, my involvement in the experiments has been cut short. I'm sensing rebel activity in the near future, and if I hurry, I can catch them. I'll need reinforcements." Bando said.

  
"I thought a person of your talents wouldn't _need_ reinforcements." The Emperor said, clearly amused.

  
"The reason the Empire hasn't caught them yet is because the rebels are underestimated every encounter. So if we merely overestimate them, we can't fail. One or two fleets hasn't ever been enough. Thrawn was living proof of that." Bando said.

  
"Very well." The Emperor said, then the hologram shut off.

  
\---

  
Ezra, Kanan, and Aang gathered in Kanan's room for meditation. A brief moment passed, and they didn't sense anything. Then finally, Ezra saw something and spoke up, "Well, I got _something_." He said.

  
"I'll take it. What was it?" Kanan asked.

  
"It was clouded, but it _looked_ like a moon." Ezra briefly explained.

  
"It sounds like the super weapon that destroyed Jheda City and the Imperial base on Scarif." Kanan suggested.

  
"Imagine what we could do with _that_ kind of weapon." Aang said.

  
"It does kind of sound like that weapon, yes, but what I saw was about halfway complete." Ezra continued.

  
"Halfway?" Kanan asked.

  
"Um, yeah. What do you think it means?" Ezra pondered.

  
"It _could_ mean there's more than one super weapon out there, and we could be in more danger than we thought." Kanan answered.

  
"Now that's news not to be taken lightly. What should we tell the others?" Aang asked.

  
"For now, we keep this under wraps. I'll consult with Hera and see if we can do anything." Kanan replied.

  
The Jedi trio went to do just that, but only made it outside the door before hearing the hologram activated, and Hera was in the conversation.

  
"We have some vital secrets from the Empire that will surely prove to be useful to your cause." A disguised voice said.

  
        "We can't pick you up from Lothal. For one thing: the Empire returned there. Second: the last time we went back to Lothal to pick someone up, we were framed. And also, taking on this mission will possibly endanger any missions we may take in the future. We are vital to the fleet." Hera said. Kanan, Ezra, and Aang enterede the room and saw Hera, with the rest of the crew, chatting with two people cloaked in white robes. One was bigger and buff, while the other was scrawny.

  
"I'm sorry for that. But if it makes you feel any better, one of those secrets is about a top-secret project of the Empire." The small one said.

  
"And how have you obtained this information yet still remained alive?" Hera asked.

  
"It's not the kind of information you steal; it's the kind you're told." The bigger one said.

  
"Well, give us time to think." Hera said.

  
"One more thing: The Empire returned for an execution event to attract you to them. They left, but may be back soon. You don't have much time to think. If you decide to do so, hurry." The smaller one said right before the hologram shut off.

  
"Top-secret info, we could _really_ use that." Sabine said.

  
Kanan sensed that Ezra wanted to speak up, so he put a hand on Ezra's shoulder and lightly shook his head in a way that no one else would see.

  
"When the time is right." Kanan leaned down and whispered, then Ezra nodded.

  
"We don't have much time. The Empire may be back soon, they say." Hera started.

  
"If it's soon, then getting out will be the problem." Sabine said.

  
"But it may _not_ be." Aang said, "I've been working on a cloaking device in my room, and it's connected to the ship." Aang sensed that Hera was distressed at the last part. "Don't worry, I've been using separate tech. Anyway, if I get some serious dedication, then it just might be done in time for the mission."

  
"Aang, you always come through." Ezra said.

  
"I know." Aang replied, making Ezra laugh.

  
"Well if we have that, we'll have a higher chance at succeeding. We should call them back and tell them that we're on our way." Hera said.

  
"I'll help Aang with the cloaker." Sabine said.

  
"Well then, let's get us some secrets." Kanan said.

  
Hera then reactivated the hologram and the two figures remained standing.

  
"We accept your offer, but be ready to move. This is going to be a quick, scoop-and-run."

  
"We're sending our coordinates, and don't worry, we're somewhere safe from Imperial ownership, outside the city." The scrawny one said.

  
\---

  
"Well this may be our most risky mission, yet." Ezra said.

  
"It could be, but did anyone else note that they knew that the Empire was gone?" Sabine asked.

  
"Sabine, anyone on Lothal could know if the Empire is gone or not." Hera replied.

  
        "You should've let me finish," Sabine whispered, "A while back, I heard that the Empire evacuated Lothal, but when we arrived there shortly after, there were still Imperials there. These guys seemed specific when they talked about this, about the Empire not being there. For all we know, they could be Imperials and this could be a _real_ defect." Sabine theorized.

  
"That's a bit of a step forward. For all we know, they could be regrouping for another major strike." Ezra said.

  
"For all we know, the Empire may not even be gone." Zeb replied.

  
"Um, guys." Hera interrupted before anyone else could say anything.

  
"What is it?" Kanan asked.

  
"Um, those two I was talking to, they... they were Imperial." Hera said plainly.

  
"Is that all you know about them?" Kanan asked.

  
"No. Their names are Cumberlayne Aresko and Miles Grint. Before Sabine and Zeb came in on the meeting, they told me everything necessary." Hera explained.

  
"Did they happen to tell you how they were brought back to life?" Ezra asked suspiciously.

  
"What do you mean by that?" Hera confusedly asked.

  
"They were executed years ago. The Inquisitor killed them." Ezra said.

  
"How do you know this, Ezra?" Kanan asked.

  
"I found out a while ago. Though I can't remember how." Ezra replied.

  
"Wait, where's Chopper?" Zeb asked. Then they heard Chopper reply from the comm system, telling them that he was in the cockpit and that he was lifting the ship off.

  
" _That's_ how you don't waste time." Ezra said, grinning.

 

\---

  
Most of the crew was now travelling through hyperspace, awaiting Aang and Sabine's finishing of Aang's device.

  
"They sure are being careful in building that thing." Hera said.

  
"With that kind of technology, you gotta be thorough so you can be certain it won't explode." Kanan said.

  
"Because that's all any new gadget of ours does." Ezra said, grinning.

  
Just then, Aang and Sabine entered the room. Aang pulled up a control stick from behind his robe and said, "Let's give this a spin." Then pulled the lever, and the crew saw some electricity spark across the hull, but they didn't see anything disappearing.

  
"You can't see it cloaked from in here."

  
"You two did a good job." Ezra said.

  
"By not making a gadget that explodes? Thanks." Sabine said.

  
"You can really do a lot in your spare time. And I'm impressed you know this much about technology, considering where we found you." Kanan said, expecting a remark.

  
"Okay, let me get something straight old man, I was never a hobo. And because of that, I was able to _learn_ about technology." Aang retorted, making the crew laugh.

  
"Oh I'm an old man, shorty?" Kanan remarked.

  
"Hey, I'm taller than Ezra. And that's saying something, because he and Sabine are the same height, so I'm not the shortest." Aang replied.

  
"Touché." Kanan agreed.

  
"Hey!" Ezra and Sabine playfully replied back.

  
"If you didn't get the parts to make that thing from the Ghost, where did you get them?" Hera asked.

  
"I used spare parts from when fighters came back from missions. Ya know, used old parts, refurbished them, and put them to good use." Aang said, "Also, Ezra helped me steal parts from a few TIE Fighters." Aang added, fist bumping Ezra.

  
Just then, the Ghost dropped out of hyperspace, revealing a star-destroyer-less Lothal sector.

  
"Well, we better tell General Dodonna we're here, and that the Empire isn't." Hera said.

  
\---

  
        Aresko and Grint stood in a huge, empty field near some huge, mountain-like boulders that would be useful for hiding. They had been waiting for the Ghost to come around to pick them up. They ditched and burned their Imperial outfits and had their cloaks on to avoid suspicion from anyone who just might be passing by. Moments of nothing passed, then a ship was spotted in the distance.

  
"There!" Grint pointed it out. He and Aresko hid behind a rock to make sure the ship wasn't Imperial, but the ship got close enough for them to realize it wasn't.  
"It's them." Aresko said as he and Grint stepped out to face the Ghost crew. The Ghost crew exited the ship and saw them.

  
"I admit, you chose a good place to hide." Hera said.

  
"An evasive one, too. The one in charge of the Imperial occupation here is not one to miss any evasive activity." Aresko said.

  
"Is there any personal information about him we should know?" Hera asked.

  
"He is a one-man war machine. He could take on every Imperial here. It's said he could probably overthrow the Emperor, himself." Aresko replied.

  
"He's not that high in command, why is that?" Ezra asked.

  
"By not being high in command, he's kept in the dark, kept from realizing his _'full power'_." Aresko continued.

  
"We should save story time for later; we should leave while we can." Kanan said.

  
"Hold on, I think we can spare a few moments. You, Ezra, and I should interrogate them before we take them you-know-where." Aang replied to Kanan, who reluctantly nodded in agreement. Hera and the other non-force-sensetives went back aboard.

  
        The rest of the crew sat in the cockpit, waiting for the Jedi to finish their interrogation. Hera was uneasy with the situation. They were told that there's a chance of getting caught and Ezra, Kanan, and Aang were taking their time, seemingly not realizing the true risk they were taking by lingering around. She and the rest of the crew sat in the cockpit, not doing anything, for several more moments. Then their boredom ended when they were commed. General Dodonna's voice was heard.  
"General Syndulla! Get out of there now! They've arrived!" He said before ending the transmission.

  
Hera let out a quiet, annoyed growl and quickly commed Kanan, "Kanan! Get our aquaintances and get aboard now! The Empire is here." She said a bit impatiently.

  
"Oh so they were actually telling the truth?" Kanan replied a little sarcastically.

  
"Why would you wait to find out? Get on the ship!" Hera pushed more.

  
Just then, explosions started raining down around them.

  
"Yep, they weren't lying." Ezra said. Kanan motioned for Aresko and Grint to follow them, and they sped towards the Ghost.

  
Blasts came from above and cut off the Jedi from the Ghost. The Jedi stopped, and so did the blasting.

  
"Why didn't they hit the ship?" Aang asked.

 

"Probably becasue a stormtrooper was in control." Ezra remarked.

  
Kanan sensed something, then looked up, obviously not seeing anything, and lightly gasped. Into the seers' views came one of the most intimidating ships of all the Imperial navy. It mainly looked like a square body with Mandalorian-fighter wings. On the body and underbelly was several powerful-looking cannons and blasters. The ones who saw it... suddenly lost some hope. The rest of the Ghost crew joined the Jedi outside.

  
        "Guys, come on. Let's g- oh." Sabine started, but suddenly froze at the sight of the mechanical horror above them as everyone else seemingly did. Now I know what you're thinking, why didn't they get on the ship in time? That's because they knew that the Ghost would be shot down and basically disintegrated. The shuttle had all its underbelly guns shoot down upon the Ghost crew, they all, seemingly, braced for impact. But it never came. Those who braced looked up and saw Aang, Kanan, and Ezra holding every arm out and holding every blast in mid-air.

  
"Woah." Hera exclaimed quietly.

  
"You could say that again." Sabine said.

  
"Now... push... _**back**_!" Aang exclaimed before all Jedi pushed the blasts back with all they had. The blasts hit the ship, but hardly any damage was done, and only a few guns were taken out.

  
"How did we do that?" Ezra asked, completely surprised.

  
"Sometimes, new force powers open up to us under pressure." Aang said, scratching his head. Suddenly, the ship backed up and landed slowly. A ramp lowered from the front and out came Bando with an entourage of ten Death Troopers.

  
"Well well, the infamous, treacherous Ghost crew." Bando said, and motioned for his entourage to surround the crew the best they could, giving them a good-enough distance for the upcoming event.

  
        Just then, rebel ships appeared in the sky and they were followed by two Star Destroyers and several TIE Fighters. Bando pulled up his comlink from his cape and said, "Lieutenants, hold your fire until I give the word." He said, then put his comlink back. He then took off his cape and gave it to the trooper beside him. Above them, some stormtrooper and rebel soldier carriers descended down to the ground. A few carriers were shot down, but the soldiers managed to escape their fiery wrecks alive. And now, the battle began.

  
"So I assume you all received my message? You can keep fighting, or you can let Lothal, and everyone on it, suffer. It's clearly obvious what happens if you choose to keep fighting, as I just said. I know that you rebels know of our weapon... the planet-killer." Bando said, circling around, the Jedi doing the same.

  
 _'They want to destroy Lothal!'_ Ezra thought, recoiling.

  
"So tell me Jedi, what do you choose?" Bando asked.

  
Ezra hung his head, knowing they weren't going to win this one and that if they escaped, there wouldn't be many rebels left. He raised his head up and said, "I will fight."

  
It took all Kanan had in him to not scold Ezra, so he calmy stated, "If he will, then we will." Aang nodded in agreement, not quite knowing what to say.

  
        "Very well. You will all die with honor." Bando said. He ignited his two blood-red lightsabers and posed. The Jedi emitted their blades and did the same.  
Bando charged at Kanan and Aang, and they locked blades. Ezra ran up from behind and swung, but the sith flipped behind Ezra, making him _almost_ hit Kanan. Bando force-pushed Ezra, making him topple over Aang. Bando approached Kanan and swung at his face; Kanan dodged, but forgot about Bando's second blade which hit his thigh. Bando then ducked from an attack from Aang, and went for Kanan's neck. Due to his grazed thigh, Kanan was able to easily duck the attack. Keeping himself in momentum after the swing, Bando kept turning, stopped, and attempted a swing down on Aang and Ezra. Before the blade could go down, Bando took a hard hit from two of Aang's arms, Aang using the force to pack an extra punch. Kanan was already on his feet and stabbed towards the sith, who kicked Kanan's hand, making the lightsaber fly up into the air. Bando force-pushed Kanan out of the way, jumped up and caught Kanan's lightsaber, then landed.

  
...nobody moved...

  
. . .

  
        Bando straightened himself and said, "You three are well-trained. Let's see if you are good with more than just the force." He looked to the rest of the Ghost crew. "Do I need to say what happens if you don't comply. You choose to fight, so you die either by the saber or by the fist. But hey, I'll still take prisoners. I'm not _that_ heartless." He then pulled the Jedi's lightsabers to him and connected them to his belt, along with his own. Afterwards, he took his belt off and handed it to the nearest trooper. "I challenge you." He pointed to Ezra, who cracked his knuckles.

  
"No!" Kanan was about to charge, but Death Troopers held him back. "You must not interfere with my ritual." Bando said. Ezra then held his fists up and stanced his feet. "Very good. Let's see if you can use those." Bando said.

  
"I'm full of surprises." Ezra said.

  
        Bando quickly thrust his fist towards Ezra's face, but Ezra's reflexes were awake, allowing Ezra to dodge. Ezra then dropped on his hands and tripped Bando. Ezra was already on his feet again as Bando fell and used his hands, and the force, to quickly push himself back up. Ezra raised one of his legs and kicked the sith back. He tried it again, but Bando grabbed his leg and threw him not far up into the air. Bando jumped up to him and kicked him across the "playing-field". When Ezra got up, the sith launched himself and delivered a hard punch to Ezra's face and Ezra collapsed. The sith chuckled and picked him up by his collar, but soon realized his mistake. Ezra faked his collapse. When Bando picked him up, Ezra used as much force as he could and elbowed Bando in the "face", cracking some of his glass visor and denting his helmet around that area, making Bando drop him.

  
_'This actually may be easier than I th-'_ Ezra cut off his line of thought, suddenly sensing something strange about this sith. Something he'd never sensed before, something he couldn't describe. But while he was lost in thought, Bando quickly recovered, his rage fueling up. Growling loudly, he launched himself to Ezra again, landing a hard blow on the spot he punched Ezra earlier, making Ezra officialy pass out.

  
"Assuming you're the teacher, I think you know more about this fighting style than he does?" Bando asked Kanan, staring at Ezra's bloodied up face.

  
 _'I actually don't know much. If we get out of this, I'll have to find out how Ezra **does**.'_ Kanan thought as he stepped up, preparing himself.

  
Bando jumped in the air, thrusting his foot forward to kick the blind man. Bando soon realized that he underestimated him because Kanan grabbed his leg and slammed him down on the ground. Bando got back up on his feet quickly and stepped back. Kanan taunted Bando with a curling index finger.

  
"This should be interesting." Bando mumbled.

  
Bando threw very quick punches and kicks, all of which Kanan successfully dodged. Bando tried punching again, but Kanan caught his fist. Bando countered by kicking the spot on Kanan's leg that he stabbed, making Kanan grunt. Kanan then grabbed his arm, twisted around and threw Bando.

  
"Clearly I've underestimated you, blind man." Bando said.

  
"Clearly." Kanan agreed.

  
        The sith rushed forward, headbutting Kanan, Kanan brought himself up and punched Bando square in the jaw, followed by a punch in the stomach by the sith. Bando then pulled Kanan's face down and bashed it on his knee, cracking Kanan's mask. Bando then pulled out a small, handy knife and swung towards him. But before the metal blade reached Kanan's head, he was still, then pushed into one of the huge rocks. He looked up and saw Aang with two of his arms outstretched.  
"Oh sorry, I can't allow any interference." Bando said, then nodded to the stormtroopers around the Ghost crew. The troopers cocked their guns and aimed at the Ghost crews' heads. Before they fired, there were explosions all around them. As that happened, the crew took advantage of the Imperials' confusion, knocked them away, and escaped. As they were running, they saw Chopper at the nose gun, and Aresko and Grint at the twin laser cannons.

  
        " **WHERE IS THAT COMING FRO** -" Bando started losing his temper, but got interrupted as he was blasted into a rock, but didn't die. He wasn't caught in the explosion, just caught in the small microburst. He quickly recovered and saw the Ghost and its crew running up to it. The Ghost's ramp opened, and Bando saw Aresko and Grint waiting for them. Bando then picked up a blaster off the ground and fired at them. The aiming system in his helmet was messed up a little bit so he couldn't aim properly. The shots barely missed them, but Bando didn't get another chance because all the crew had already gone onboard. He looked around and saw a trooper with a rocket launcher.

  
" **TROOPER**! **THE ROCKET**!" Bando shouted, pointing at the Ghost and running over to him.

  
        "This is the _last_ one." The trooper said, handing Bando the rocket. Bando eyeballed the Ghost, then saw a rebel ship coming to pick the Ghost up. Then with one powerful force-assissted throw, he threw it towards the pickup ship, and it was a direct hit. The Ghost didn't make it to the ship, but conveniently, another ship came and picked it up.

  
Bando just stared upwards as the remaining rebel ships made their way into orbit and out of their reach.

  
"General, search the wrecks for any survivors." Bando said.

  
"Yes, sir." The stormtrooper general replied.

  
\---

  
Kanan and Ezra were lain in med-bay beds as the Ghost entered hyperspace. After some relieving moments of peace passed, the rest of the crew entered the med-bay and Hera checked on Kanan.

  
"I was really not expecting that. Those Imperials weren't actually lying." Kanan said, taking his cracked mask off and setting it on a table. "I didn't think anyone could hit that hard. His arms felt metal-hard.

  
"That man is intelligent." Hera struggled to form words, but couldn't figure out what to say.

  
"He does hit hard. And he may be our toughest challenge yet." Ezra said.

  
"Maybe. And hey, I'm glad to see you lasted longer using my training. You lasted longer than I thought you would." Sabine replied, making both of them laugh. But Ezra stopped himself, groaning in pain and clutching his head.

  
"Oh so _you're_ where he got that from?" Kanan exclaimed, grinning.

  
"Yeah, figured he could use it." Sabine said.

  
"Well, that sith seemed somewhat familiar with that fighting style." Kanan said, giving himself something to think about.

  
Hera then commed Chopper in the cockpit, "Thanks for the save, Chopper. But couldn't you have blasted them earlier?" She asked. Chopper beeped in reply, and Hera translated it as _'First: You're welcome. Second: I like a good show.'_

  
"Oh, he calls that a good show!?" Ezra said, a little offended.

  
"I'll deal with it." Hera mumbled, going off to the cockpit.

  
"Well now that we know what we're up against, we can strategize more." Ezra said.

  
"First, we ought to heal more." Kanan said, lying back down.

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

Chapter 5

  
"That was just, way too close. Almost half our fleet is gone, and that man, whoever he is, will be the end of the rebellion. We can't take these kinds of missions anymore." Hera said. The uninjured of the Ghost crew were discussing the mission they narrowly survived, a few hours after it happened.

  
"We can, just not to Lothal." Zeb said.

  
"Yeah, basically. It's irritating to know the Empire's returned to Lothal." Hera agreed.

  
"Why would they return, though?" Zeb asked.

  
"Isn't it obvious? They want us. And , they'll have us. We're not going to sit back while the galaxy suffers." Aang said.

  
"Aang, we _can't_ fight them. Not _him_. He's too strong." Hera said.

  
"Hey, uh, Hera?" Kanan asked via comlink.

  
"Kanan?!" Hera exclaimed, surprised to hear him awake.

  
"Ezra got out." Kanan said.

  
"Oh boy." Hera said, somewhat annoyed and not surprised.

  
Hera and Sabine went to get Ezra, but found him in the common room, sitting in front of the hologram table. A video was playing, and the rest of the crew heard and gathered in the room. Kanan slowly entered the room, curious about the strange silence. But it wasn't entirely silent. The sith had something more for the rebels.

  
"The rebellion has forced the Empire's hand. The team known as Phoenix Squadron chose to fight and sacrifice others for their own good, and the traitorous princess of Alderaan won't reveal anything _about_ them. Now they will watch others pay for their mistakes." The sith said.

  
The camera lingered on, what the rebellion knew as, the Death Star. Then green lasers emerged from it. The crew watched in distress as the camera moved over to view 'Alderaan!' Then the Death Star's laser bolted towards Alderaan and blew it to pieces.

  
        "Hear me now rebels: any action you take will be another few billion lives taken. Surrender is no longer an option. Turn yourselves in and you will die with at least a little dignity. Continue to fight, continue to sacrifice. And for that Lothalian rebel, Lothal is next." Then the transmission ended. Ezra kept staring at the holotable, with an unclear expression. They could hardly tell if Ezra was very concerned and scared for his planet, or if he was irated at the sith. Kanan sensed it. Ezra was irated.

  
"They destroyed the station on Scarif, now they have the ability to destroy an entire planet." Hera said with a shaky voice.

  
"Tell me we're going to do something." Ezra said, running a hand through his hair.

  
"Son of a motherless goat gave us a choice to either surrender and die, or fight and die. He didn't say anything about getting involved in anything for a while." Sabine said.

  
"That sounds like the opposite of what I said I wanted to do." Ezra said, sitting back.

  
"You got a better idea?" Sabine asked.

  
"Face him again." Ezra replied blankly.

  
"Ezra! He nearly killed you and Kanan! What makes you want to go to do that _again_?" Hera asked.

  
"I know more about him and his type of fighting. I think we can beat him if we go again." Ezra said.

  
"Not convincing enough. He's gonna get better." Aang said.

  
"He will if we _wait_ to act." Ezra said.

  
. . .

  
"Aresko and Grint!" Aang before they appeared in the room. "You still got those secrets you promised us?"

  
"Uh, yes." Grint said, pulling two computer chips from one of his pockets.

  
"If we're going to let these out, we really should meet with General Dodonna." Hera said.

  
"General Dodonna? I've heard stories of him. He was in the report of the Imperial siege on Atollon." Aresko said.

  
"You know about that attack?" Ezra asked. Aresko turned to reply, then he recognized something familiar about Ezra.

  
"Dev Morgan?" Aresko asked.

  
"Codename. Real name is Ezra Bridger." Ezra replied, in which Aresko and Grint slightly recoiled and looked at each other.

  
"B-Bridger?" Aresko tried clarifying.

  
"Yeah, I assume you know about my parents' transmissions?" Ezra asked, then thought to himself, _'Duh.'_

  
"Well, yes. And more." Aresko said.

  
"What does _that_ mean?" Ezra asked suspiciously.

  
Aresko and Grint turned around to discuss privately. "With you in a minute." Aresko said before turning back.

  
"We can't tell him. There's too much at stake for them already." Grint whispered.

  
"But he's only going to get more curious." Aresko replied.

  
"If we tell him, he'll act on it. I know about this boy. He's a powerful ally to the rebellion, and like I said, there's already too much at stake for them." Grint said.  
"Very well, what are we going to tell him?" Aresko agreed.

  
"For now, we tell him that we _can't_ tell him." Grint said.

  
They turned back around. "We're afraid we can't tell you right now."

  
"In that case, we'll be heading up to the briefing room." Hera said, walking off with the crew behind her. Ezra lingered behind, sharing a small glare at Aresko and Grint.

  
\---

  
"And you're sure about this?" Dodonna asked.

  
"We are." Kanan replied.

  
"Besides, if it is a tracker, we can always destroy it." Ezra said.

  
"Very well." Then Dodonna inserted one of the chips into a slot of the holotable. And up came a list of Imperial documents. Not very long, but imformative lists. They were all schedules and rotations for the Empire around Lothal's sector.

 

"What are the rotations for?" Ezra asked.

  
"The Empire has discovered evidence something _strange_ somewhere _outside_ Lothal's sector, and due to the Empire's squeezed schedule, Lothal's Imperial division has to be split up, rotating patrols around to help find out what that strange thing _is_." Aresko explained.

  
Ezra's hearing started temporarily fading, and when that happened, he heard a voice. _'I'm back.'_ The voice said. The voice sounded old. Very old, hoarse, and raspy. And as usual, it echoed throughout Ezra's mind. _'It has begun.'_ The voice added. Ezra snapped back to reality immediately after, and he noticed the crew was trying to get his attention.

  
"Ezra, did you see someone again?" Kanan asked.

  
"Well, no. I... I didn't see anyone else. I just heard a voice. It sounded like Maul, yet it didn't." The crew was now concerned, listening to this. "The voice sounded much, much older."

  
"Could it have been a vision?" Sabine asked.

  
"No, no no. This wasn't a vision of any kind. The voice was talking to me. It said that something has now begun. And said that he's back." Ezra explained.

  
" _Could_ it be Maul?" Kanan asked.

  
"I-It _can't_ be." Ezra said.

  
A short, silent moment passed before Kanan led Ezra outside the briefing room.

  
"You didn't exactly tell me the full story of your hunt for Master Kenobi. I know that because _when_ you told the story, I sensed that there was something more. So I'll ask again: Could it be Maul?" Kanan pushed on.

  
"It can't be. From what I know, he's dead. I left Master Kenobi before I saw anything happen. They did fight, and I know they wouldn't stop unless one of them was struck down. And we know Master Kenobi is alive." Ezra suggested; Kanan was inclined to agree. He escorted Ezra back into the room.

  
"Well?" Hera cautiously asked.

  
"Maul is dead, it's not him. And as I said, the voice did sound _much_ older than him." Ezra confirmed.

  
"Anyway, that was the first chip, _this_ one," Grint held up the second chip, "Has some more, uh, interesting stuff."

  
General Dodonna inserted the chip and the list of files opened up. The crew stared in awe.

  
"TIE AP-1 Maulers? TIE Crawlers? What is this?" Zeb asked.

  
"Luckily, TIE Crawlers won't be mass produced for a while. AP-1's on the other hand, will be in the field soon." Aresko explained before everyone started reading through again.

  
"8t88, Imperial Knights... who's Tycho Celchu?" Hera wondered.

  
"There! There's a file you'll want to look through." Aresko pointed to a file with a coded name.

  
"You've been through this before?" Hera asked.

  
"Yes, we had to make sure this had that specific file. The one that'll help you defeat him." Aresko emphasized. The file was then immediately opened.

  
"Oh, this is good." Ezra enthusiastically mumbled.

  
"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves." Kanan said.

  
"Maybe we should. Says here that he's an expert strategist, never carries less than three battalions with him, and it says that he's one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. This has a ton of information about him." Sabine said.

  
"Why's that a reason to get ahead of ourselves?" Kanan asked.

  
"Oh those weren't reasons. I was reading through facts about him." Sabine replied.

  
"Well can you please read out some helpful information?" Ezra suggested with a sarcastic tone.

  
"Fine." Sabine replied with a grin, beginning to read through some more information. "He alone is very powerful, so why does he carry so many battalions with him? This is saying he's like a one-man army."

  
"Probably an entourage to protect himself from... a lot of us." Hera theorized.

  
"He's seemingly obsessed with peace. If he's like this list says he is, why hasn't he really done anything yet? He definately has the power to overthrow us, so why hasn't he overthrown the Emperor? You'd think that he'd think he could do better at destroying us." Ezra asked publicly.

  
"He just might be that obtuse to his capabilities." Kanan replied.

  
"Let's hope it stays that way." Hera said. Meanwhile, Sabine came across something shocking.

  
"Uh, guys, apparently we aren't the only ones to steal plans. Look." Sabine said as she opened a file that showed plans and statistics on how to defeat Bando.  
"Woah. We just might survive him." Ezra said in complete shock.

  
"Well, a lot of these seem really complicated. I'll see if we can find something easier soon- Nevermind, here's something." Sabine said, opening yet another file, showing a diagram of Bando's helmet.

  
"He has a weak spot!" Hera exclaimed.

  
"That's convenient. Looks like you'll get your chance at him again, Ezra." Sabine said.

  
"Oh boy." Zeb groaned, not quite in a manner of complaint.

  
"Well then it's settled. Why don't we make the call?" Aang said.

  
"Call? How?" Hera asked.

  
. . .

  
"Let's blow some stuff up." Aang said shortly before sharing a fist bump with Sabine.

  
"Alright." Kanan mumbled, grinning.

  
\---

  
Bando entered the bridge of a star destroyer in orbit above Lothal. A few officers and even the commander was surprised.

  
"Would you be the commander of this vessel?" Bando asked him.

  
"Uh, yes sir?" The commander replied.

  
"What were you doing when the ship known as the Ghost escaped our grasp?" Bando asked.

  
"Well, all _our_ fighters were dispatched and dealing with the enemies' fighters." The commander explained.

  
"And you weren't doing anything, I assume?" Bando assumed.

  
"Well we were under heavy fi-" He was cut off as he fell to his knees, clutching his throat. He looked up at Bando to see him clenching his hand slightly, but his vision was getting buzzy and started blurring out as all the air was thoroughly getting sucked from his lungs and throat. Bando then fully clenched his fist, officialy killing the commander.

  
"It's not wise to lie to a sith." Bando finally said. He looked up and saw some officers staring with some disbelief.

  
"This ship, was _**not**_ under _**any** _ attack! I saw it **all**! I saw the Ghost fly directly past this ship, and I'd like a reason for why no one bothered shooting." Bando shouted.

  
. . .

  
"The guns were destroyed." An officer said. Bando immediately turned and used the force to hold the officer in the air, lightly choking him.

  
"And why?" Bando asked.

  
"The rebel ships destroyed them." The officer replied.

  
"And how is that? We got the drop on them and I saw as many ships were destroyed before they retreated to the planet." Bando said.

  
. . .

  
"You failed to do your job." Bando said, gritting the teeth of his hidden face and choking the officer to death.

  
"The Ghost is now our number one priority. The rebellion cannot stand without it. I expect you not to rest until you can assure me that you won't fail the next time we encounter the Ghost. **Understood**?!" Bando shouted.

  
"Yes, sir!" They all replied.

  
"Good. Now someone clean this mess up and dump it into the incinerator." Bando gestured to the two cold, dead bodies lying at his feet.

 

**Author's note: In this story, the story of Ezra's story is that he told the crew that Maul died on Tatooine and that Obi Wan was actually dead in the first place (hence his statements in the end of the episode Twin Suns), but Ezra personally told Bail Organa, Senator Mon Mothma, and Kanan of Obi Wan's existance, but didn't tell them of any encounter between Maul and Kenobi.**


	6. Chapter 6

 

Chapter 6

  
 _'You failed.'_ A voice spoke inside Bando's head.

  
 _'I did not. I simply analyzed the way they fight, and along with the late Grand Admiral Thrawn's tactics and strategies, have composed a perfect plan to defeat them.'_ Bando replied.

  
 _'You could've stopped them.'_ The voice said.

  
 _'Well, no one succeeds on their first attempt. I will not fail to catch them next time.'_ Bando pointed out.

  
 _'I hope you do. You know the consequence for failure.'_ The voice siad.

  
 _'Yes, I do. And due to a recent vision of mine, they're developing a cloaking device so they can sneak past Imperial security. But they won't know that I will see them coming.'_ Bando said.

  
 _'One more mistake, and you will atone for it.'_ The voice concluded.

  
\---

  
"We all good to go?" Ezra asked.

  
"Yep." Aang said, coming from the hallway, holding a bag of explosives, also follwed by the rest of the crew.

  
"Remind me why we put Ezra in charge, please." Hera said.

  
"Oh you'll see." Kanan replied.

  
The crew gathered in the common room to review the plan. Ezra brought up a hologram of an Imperial camp, conveniently far outside Capital City. Only they found that it was another TIE Fighter base. It was a lot bigger, more open spaces, and it seemed as though it was under construction. A perfect target to call the sith.

  
"There are two entrances in the camp," Ezra pointed to two opposite ends of the camp. "Sabine and Zeb, you'll distract troopers on this end, while Aang and I do the same on the other side. Once they're distracted, Kanan, Hera, and Chopper will go to knock out any kind of communication so they won't be able to call backup. By then, the stormtroopers should've been handled and we can plant the explosives in place." Ezra explained.

  
Kanan grinned and lightly nudged Hera with his elbow, "He made a good plan." Kanan whispered.

  
"Sounds easy enough." Chopper beeped.

  
"This is only the easy part. What we need to worry about, if anything, is when the sith arrives. When he does, that's when we need the fleet to arrive so they can separate his battalion from him. So you see Chop, if you treat it as if it is easy, you'll be blown to bits." Ezra added with a grin, in which Chopper just kicked him.

  
"Good. I'll tell General Dodonna." Hera said, getting up.

  
"That Chopper might get blown to bits?" Ezra asked.

  
"What? No. That we're ready for the mission." Hera said, resisting a laugh. But Zeb laughed.

  
\---

  
Bando, back on Lothal, was reading a few reports of attacks, concerning Phoenix Squadron, hoping to recognize a pattern. He noticed that the Empire hadn't taken a serious blow from them in a while.

  
 _'Are they waiting for a chance to strike?'_ Bando thought to himself.

  
        Then he started recalling his most recent encounter with them. Aresko and Grint. _'What do they want with the rebellion? What could they giv-'_ Bando immediately stopped his train of thought and quickly rushed out into the hallway and descended down to a secret vault below the building. He opened a vault door to a hallway in which Death Troopers were guarding the safe Bando was after. The hallway was like a cave, except there were air conditioning systems in the walls so guards could survive. Bando twisted the safe knob until the door cracked open. And _inside_ was a case, he opened the case, and inside the case, were Imperial data chips.

Only two were missing. Bando was shocked.

  
        "Stealing secrets means another attack." Bando mused. He closed the case and the vault and rushed to the end of the cave and pressed an alarm button, which was placed next to an external speaker. He activated the speaker and spoke into it, "Attention all Imperial forces of Lothal, traitors Myles Grint and Cumberlayne Aresko have stolen Imperial secrets for the rebellion. We must now prepare for attack. Meet in the hangar bay for further instructions." He then turned to the Death Troopers, "And what were you all doing when _they_ were here?" He asked. "They told us you wanted the chips for safekeeping." One of them replied. Bando was about to kill him, but was too focused on preventing an attack from the rebels to do so. "Double the security here, it'll be needed while I'm gone." He then rushed up to the hangar bay, where Imperials were finished gathering.

  
        "The rebels have some secret Imperial information. Information that **_I_ ** know of. The Empire might not be able to survive without it. We need to double security everywhere: bases, camps, TIE bases, manufacturing camps. Everywhere! Wherever any Imperial presence is. I've already had to call for backup due to our recent rotation schedules." Bando announced. "Get to it."

  
"Yes sir!" They all replied. Bando then stepped down to an officer, "Go do what you do. And gather the Imperial authorities to my office."

  
"Yes, sir."

  
\---

  
The rebels appeared in Lothal's sector, under Lothal. The rebels could see the underbellys of star destroyers from a distance. To be realistic, they could barely see the star destroyers.

  
"This was a good idea, going under, instead of straight." Hera said.

  
"Thanks." Aang replied.

  
Meanwhile, Ezra was sitting back, a little ticked off at some recent thoughts and memories.

  
"Why does Lothal have to get _this_ _much_ attention?" He asked a little quietly.

  
"Hey, don't worry about it. It'll be over soon." Sabine replied, placing a hand on Ezra's shoulder.

  
"I certainly hope so." Ezra said.

  
The Ghost slipped right by and went down to the surface. They travelled in the direction of the camp. They ended up stopping a big distance away from the camp to avoid detection. Once they landed, the crew got on speeder bikes for the rest of the ride to the camp. Once they reached a decent distance, they parked the speeders behind a tall, grassy hill. From there on, they sneaked up to the base and hid against a wall. Ezra pulled up a hologram of the base, where a red dot indicated where they were.

  
"Okay, this is my and Aang's side. Sabine and Zeb sneak around and get to the other side, and we know the rest." Ezra commanded, and they split up.

  
Ezra peeked out from the side of the entrance and took a look at the area. There were plenty of rows of TIE Fighters, and stormtrooper patrols were circling around the base, securing the TIEs and rotating around, checking the perimeter and watchtower along the long side of the wall. Ezra seemed to notice that there was a larger stormtrooper presence at an Imperial camp than usual. Kanan sensed it too.

  
"The Empire must really want those secrets back." Kanan whispered.

  
"Yeah, considering we have secrets to defeat probably the most powerful man alive, they'd be pretty desparate to get those secrets back or destroy us before we can do anything." Ezra whispered back. Just then, he spotted Zeb and Sabine standing at the other entrance of the camp. Sabine waved at him and Ezra shined a small light, signalling her and Zeb to start the distractions. The wave Sabine gave might have secretly caught some attention. Sabine then threw some paint grenades towards groups of stormtroopers. The troopers saw the grenades and immediately ran, screaming "REBELS!". The grenades exploded on them, and they were covered in different shades of pink, blue, red, orange, and green. The troopers tried getting up, but they were stuck to the ground.

  
"Sticky paint?" Zeb wondered, clearly amuzed.

  
"New recipe." Sabine replied, whipping up her Westar-35 blasters and shooting down approaching stormtroopers, Zeb doing the same with his bo-rifle.  
Stormtroopers came in on the rebels on both sides and started blasting them.

  
"Hold it right now, rebel scum!" One of the troopers shouted.

  
"I got two things to say to you: one - do you even know what we are?" Aang asked before he, Ezra, and Kanan emitted their blades, "Two - you need to come up with a better insult. 'Scum' is overused." Aang said, grinning before charging at the group of troopers.

  
"Aang! Hold up!" Kanan shouted, quickly outstretching a hand to prevent a stormtrooper from shooting Aang in the back. Aang recovered and elbowed the stormtrooper, knocking him out, and wincing in some pain. Aang quickly swung around, slicing the other stormtroopers' blasters in half. Aang backed up and was in between Ezra and Kanan again, deflecting ongoing fire. The Jedi started using the force to directly deflect blasts off their blades and onto the stormtroopers. Ezra looked up on the tower and saw Hera and Chopper making progress taking out any Imperial communication.

  
In the tower, once done destroying Imperial communication, Hera's comm beeped and she picked it up and answered, "Hello?"

  
"We have company." Dodonna whispered, "We have to head down there. Copy?"

  
"Yes, I copy." Hera said, then her transmission ended. "No no **_no_**! Too soon!" She exclaimed quietly. She then brought back her comm and contacted Kanan, "Kanan, we have company! Yes, already." She said, then immediately put her comm back down and planted detonators around the round room and went down to ground level with the Jedi.

  
"You see, this is why we need backup plans _ahead_ of time." Aang said.

  
Then, some stormtrooper carriers emerged and lit the rebels with spotlights, temporarily blinding them until they landed. The second they landed, several stormtroopers exited and charged at them.

  
Zeb and Sabine were watching from a distance, a little worried. Zeb looked over to Sabine and held up the detonator switch, obviously thinking now would be the best time to activate it. Sabine nodded, and Zeb pressed the button. Explosions erupted all over the camp, distracting the stormtroopers. The troopers realized the mistake they made, turning away from the rebels, the moment they were suddenly pushed into the explosions... by Aang. Kanan sensed something troublesome in him.

  
"Aang, you ok?" Kanan asked.

  
"Yeah," He replied casually, panting, "Why?" He asked.

  
"You're not usually panting... like, _that_ , when you use the force." Kanan pointed out. Aang just shrugged, confused at Kanan's statement. "My point is that the only times I've seen people exhausted on any level from using the force, is when someone has used the dark side. But I didn't sense anything different in you." Kanan said.

  
"Is now really the best time to talk about it? Bando is here." Aang asked, pointing to the ominous black shuttle in the sky. The others recoiled, and so did Aang once he realized what he said.

  
Kanan commed Zeb immediately and said, "Zeb, stay where you are. Bando is here, and I want you to snipe him. It might work."

  
" _Might_? That's not very assuring." Zeb replied, getting on his stomach and preparing his bo-rifle.

  
Dust blew, smoke exhausted, then the ship landed. The ramp lowered and out came Bando, with his Death Trooper entourage.

  
"Fire when ready." Kanan finished with Zeb, quietly.

  
Zeb took aim, eye squinting, finger lingering. _Blam_. He took the shot...

  
And hit Bando in the chest.

  
. . .

  
No reactions.

  
. . .

  
. . .

  
"What's going on? It's couldn't have been _that_ easy." Ezra said.

  
"You're absolutely right." The distinct voice of Bando said aloud for everyone to hear. The Ghost crew turned and saw a stormtrooper leaning against a wall.  
"Is this a joke?" Kanan asked.

  
"Oh I assure you this is no joke." The trooper said, pressing a button on his helmet, which turned off a holographic illusion, revealing the stormtrooper to be the real Bando. The crew then looked over and saw the same thing with the fake Bando, finding out that he was just a stormtrooper. They looked back at Bando again, who immediately ignited his two blood-red blades, the Jedi mirroring the sith's actions.

  
Then they charged at each other, and round two began. More trooper carriers came and unloaded several more troopers to occupy the rebels. Kanan and Ezra seized Bando in another ferocious lightsaber dual, while the other rebels got to work, firing at the stormtroopers. The same thing happened for several minutes, only, when several stormtroopers were killed off, more troopers came. Nothing was altering any outcome.

  
 _'This could go on for a while, we're gonna need to do something quick.'_ Ezra told his master, via force-bond.

  
 _'Try getting behind him.'_ Kanan replied.

  
Ezra then slowly started circling around Bando while blocking rapid attacks from him. Kanan lunged at Bando, swinging down onto him. Bando's lightsabers were locked onto Ezra's and Kanan's.

  
"Aang, we could use some help." Kanan called. He saw Aang deflecting fire with all of his lightsabers.

  
"I'm kinda preoccupied at the moment." Aang replied.

  
Ezra, his blade still locked on one of Bando's, closed his eyes and used the force to channel all the strength he could into one arm, while he reached and pressed a button over an open spot on Bando's neck. Bando then collapsed to the ground. Kanan and Ezra stood back. Imperial officers saw this and immediately shouted, ordering the Imperial forces to retreat. And in a matter of minutes, they were gone. The crew gathered around Bando, but not so much as to crowd him. Bando then turned over, revealing that a mouthpiece, and visors opened up, revealing smoky green eyes and a heavily inhaling mouth.

  
"Everybody **stand back**!" Kanan shouted, everyone stepping a few yards away from him. Just then, the sun started rising. Bando then got up.

  
"What!? **No**!" Bando started freaking out.

  
"It looks like a nightsister spirit possession." Ezra said, using the force to lift Bando still into the air, exposing him to the rising sun. Ezra was right. It _looked like_ a nightsister spirit, but it seemed very different. The spirit left Bando and flew upward. It stopped for a moment, then looked down at Ezra. Ezra saw the spirit glare at him right before he left. Ezra let go of Bando and he dropped to the ground.

  
The sith, slowly and shakily, stood up. He felt dizzy and had some memories on his mind. He pulled out his blasters and fired at Kanan, but collapsed back to the ground, dropping his gun also. After he regained full consciousness, he stood up steadily.

  
"Oh no. No no no no no no no no no no." Bando said, looking around.

  
"Hey! Did you forget about us?" Aang asked.

  
Bando turned to the Jedi, closed the open bits of his mask, and asked, "What happened?"

  
Aang and Ezra looked at each other, then Ezra turned back and asked, "What do you mean 'what happened?' "

  
"This." Bando said, motioning all around him.

  
"We don't have time for your games, sith." Kanan said.

  
"Uh-" He thought for a split second, "Wait, what? Sith?"

  
Everyone was on the same page now, confused as to what was going on.

  
"Oh man, it's all coming back. The memories are coming back... But, I have different feelings about it." Bando said, quietly. He was pacing around, rubbing his helmet, trying to make sense of things.

  
"Some of me is telling me I was born into the Empire, but something is pulling the other way, telling me the opposite. I remember nothing from before Imperial life." He told himself aloud, still pacing back and forth.

  
"What do you plan on doing?" Aang asked.

  
"I guess I'll return to the base here, and learn about myself. If something is saying I wasn't always Imperial, then there must be something for me to know. If I learn what I want to know, I'll have to leave." Bando said, jumping up and activating his boot jets.

  
"Wait." Aang called, Bando stopped. "Who are you? Is Bando a code, or, sith name?"

  
"No. I am Bando Roscoe." Then he flew off.

  
"We win." Ezra said. And just at that moment, Zeb and Sabine came by and heard his statement. The rebels gave a roar of victory. The rebel soldiers returned to their ships, and the Ghost crew hopped onto their speeders and sped off to the Ghost. When they got there, they could barely manage not to give out a joyful laugh. Chopper went up to the cockpit to check on Aresko and Grint. Just a moment later, Chopper beeped for the crew, suggesting their presence in the cockpit. The crew went up, and they were confused and sad at the sight. They saw Aresko and Grint's lifeless bodies lying on the floor. Chopper gave out a sad, lingering beep.

  
"Well, they died with honor." Kanan said.

  
"But how?" Ezra asked.

  
"They were brought back to life somehow, maybe whatever did that wore off and killed them." Sabine suggested.

  
"But what was it? The only thing that's worn off recently is..." Ezra stopped.

  
"What is it, Ez-" Kanan stopped too, realizing where Ezra was going.

  
"Bando." They said in unison.

  
"The sith?" Hera wondered.

  
"For the record, I don't think he's exactly a sith, but he was possessed. I'm thinking: whatever possessed him, brought them back to life, and when it left Bando's body, the spell wore off." Ezra said.

  
"It's a thought." Kanan said.

  
"Let's talk about this later, but for now..." Hera said as they all looked down at the dead bodies.

  
\---

  
Bando was flying through Lothal's fields, soon to reach a resting place. He was doing some serious thinking. _'Has all I've seemingly lived for, been a lie? I will find out, and I will know what to do next.'_

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

Chapter 7

  
"You mean to tell me that he was forced to work for the Empire?" Senator Mon Mothma asked. The senate had gathered to talk about what to do with a possible new ally.

  
"We think so. He didn't exactly hang around to chat." Hera replied.

  
"We should bring him in for questioning." Admiral Raddus declared.

  
"Not being one for the Empire, I'm sure he'd comply." Kanan said.

  
"How do we know he's not faking? What if he's trying to get captured so he can expose our base?" A rebel asked.

  
"We Jedi can confirm that when we next meet him. " Ezra said.

  
"What did Senator Organa say? Where is he?" Hera asked.

  
When Hera asked that question, the room heard, and the moment they heard, they hung their heads. A moment later, Mon Mothma rose her head "Bail... Right before the battle of Scarif, he returned to Alderaan... He's remained there ever since." She said, a little shakily. Phoenix Squadron suddenly got shaken up. "We've been waiting for a gathering to acknowledge him and his service. His seat in the Senate is to be taken by his daughter, the princess of Alderaan. But intel says she's been kidnapped, and there's nothing we can do. We've already got a big enough risk, the Death Star plans still haven't been delivered to us, and we can only guess what happened to them."

  
Kanan sensed distress in Ezra. "Ezra," He said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I sense her rescue is already in progress."

  
"In the meantime, Ghost crew, we will assign you to retrieve this vigilante. But for now." Mon Mothma said, pulling up a hologram of Bail.

  
_Bail Prestor Organa_

  
_Born - 67 Years By The Galactic Standard Calender_

  
_Died - 0 Years By The Galactic Standard Calender_

  
"Bail was a brave man. The most intelligent and strategic senator I knew. He always knew what to do in a desparate situation. Things, won't be the same without him." Mon Mothma said.

  
Then the rebels gathered in a courtroom, where they unveiled a statue of Bail Organa. The rebels removed their helmets in respect as a funeral went underway. After the funeral, the rebels went back to work, but very few words were spoken.

  
Hera found Ezra leaning against the Ghost, looking like he was thinking. "Something on your mind?" She asked softly.

  
"I just got to thinking, the weapon, the... Death, Star, is what Klik Klak was referring to when we asked him what the Empire was building on Geonosis. We saw it in that video, and it was complete and operational, but, in a vision I had earlier, I saw the same thing, except it was only halfway complete." Ezra said.

  
"What do you think that means?" Hera asked.

  
"I think the Empire is building another one." Ezra said.

  
\---

  
Bando found a place to camp for a few hours, and waited until later morning to return to the base on Lothal. His boot jets were almost out of fuel, so he walked a good distance to get to town. He arrived and went through an alleyway, into the streets... to be greeted by Imperials.

  
"Sir! Are you alright? We heard of an attack on a camp you were present in, and to see you arrive without your ship-"

  
"I am fine. But the rebels are growing stronger, and we need to, also." Bando said, quietly.

  
"Are you sure you're alright?" The Imperial officer asked.

  
"Yes! I'm fine!" Bando answered, roughly. _'Looks like I'll have to play Imperial a little while longer.'_

  
The officer summoned an escort of Imperials off the street to help guard Bando to the facility. They led him to the entrance, then Bando let them go and he made his way back to his office.

  
He immediately sat down and went to work, looking through all his mission reports, doing what he could to remember everything, fully. He read through them all, down to the first one, and as he read through the first one, he noticed the date.

  
"The date of my first mission must be shortly after I was seemingly born into the Empire." He mumbled. He closed the files and headed down to the storage room he visited earlier. He got the case containing chips with Imperial secrets, and started leaving, then a trooper noticed.

  
"Sir?" Bando turned to the trooper. "Emperor's orders were to keep them here."

  
"Well if someone who defected was able to get through here and steal chips, then these chips clearly need better security. **_I'll_ ** be watching over them." Bando said.

  
"Very well." The trooper replied, and Bando continued on. Bando went back up to his office with his work. "This could be it." He whispered. He saw a thin slot on the bottom of the case, containing a data card. "What's this?" He asked himself while taking it out and inserting it into the hologram projector. And up came a video. He watched the whole thing, and to the side was a document, explaining everything, even his life before his Imperial one.

  
_'Oh.'_

  
\---

  
Kanan found Hera in the cockpit, doing nothing. But he sensed sadness within her.

  
 _'I recognize **that** sadness anywhere.'_ He thought to himself. "Hera, this isn't going to be anything like Malachor." Hera remained motionless. "We will be alright. I know it."

  
"How do you know? You lost your eyesight the last time you went on a mission to go after sith. What'll be different?" Hera asked, swerving her chair around to face him.

  
"For one thing, we'll have Aang. Despite being reckless and having a lot to learn about being a Jedi, he's still a valuable addition to the team. And one Jedi added to the team will give us the advantage." Kanan pointed out.

  
" _'One more Jedi'_ didn't work out on Malachor, did it?" Hera asked.

  
"Hera, there's only one dark-sider involved in this. And the chances of him not being on their side are big." Kanan said.

  
"But that's still not convincing enough. It'll be swarmed with Imperials there. Things could still happen." Hera said, turning away from him.

  
. . .

  
"Not when the rest of the Ghost Crew comes with us." Kanan said, smirking. Hera faced him again, her stress leaving bit-by-bit.

  
"Though if someone dies, I'm blaming you." Hera said.

  
"You make it sound like it's not such a big deal." Kanan said before leaving. Hera was more calm now.

  
Kanan found Ezra in the common room. "You alright?" He asked.

  
"Yeah, it's just, a lot's been on my mind. First the Death Star, now I just remembered something else. In our first encounter with Bando, I sensed something in him. Like someone was calling for help, like that same someone was trapped." Ezra explained.

  
"Well, remember when we defeated Bando? His evil side, I mean."

  
"Yeah."

  
"Well we all saw a spirit emerge from his body. It was obviously possessing him, and we helped him. Bando got help, and now he's free. At least he will be."  
"Well, I just thought it might've been someone else."

  
...

  
"That's not _all_ that's on your mind is it?" Kanan asked.

  
"No, it's not." Ezra replied. Just at that moment, Sabine and Chopper entered the room, but Chopper just went up to the new Phantom to repair recent damages. "I've also been thinking about how much attention Lothal's been getting. Lothal isn't the only system to have rebels cells, but I feel like there's something more."

  
"Well, remember years ago when Minister Tua asked for our help? She said there was a secret reason why the Empire was on Lothal."

  
"And that's why Lothal gets so much attention. But what is the secret?" Ezra asked.

  
"Well I feel as though only one person could know. But, you know, he's dead." Kanan said.

  
"Thrawn." Ezra grumbled. "Wait, what about Bando? Think he knows?"

  
"Possibly." Kanan replied. A moment of silence passed. Sabine just sat down beside Ezra while the silence passed. "But, I sense things will get better in time."

 


	8. Chapter 8

  
Chapter 8

  
The Ghost went flying through hyperspace, on their mission to retrieve Bando. The crew gathered in the cockpit to review the plan, and to specify specific and important objectives.

  
"We all know that this guy is extremely dangerous. We cannot underestimate him, whatsoever." Hera said. Ezra was confused at this, he knew that Hera knew that Bando wasn't actually a bad guy, yet she was talking as if he was still a sith. He looked at Kanan, who sensed Ezra's stare and shrugged.

  
"I'm just saying, you shouldn't exaggerate, Hera. This guy isn't exactly with the Empire." Aang said.

  
"And I'm sure he wouldn't mind going against them." Ezra said.

  
"It's just very dangerous, and I'm not comfortable with someone like him in the midst of the rebellion." Hera said.

  
"Some of us aren't. But considering all we've been through, he'll be a piece of cake to handle." Ezra said, in which Hera lightly nodded in agreement.

  
"Okay, so all we need to do is find Bando and bring him back. Imperial security will be weaker without his intelligence, so we shouldn't have much of a problem." Hera said.

  
"There's the confident Hera we all know and love." Kanan said, gracefully smiling.

  
"So how do we find this guy?" Sabine asked.

  
"I have a feeling _he_ will find _us_." Kanan said.

  
"Even better." Zeb said, sarcastically.

  
"The main point is to draw as little attention as possible until and after we have him. Not even after." Hera informed the crew.

  
"After? Won't he have an entourage guiding him everywhere?" Zeb asked.

  
"Maybe, maybe not." Kanan said.

  
"So we'll be undercover?" Ezra asked.

  
"Basically. Sabine'll help with that." Hera answered.

  
Chopper beeped, which translated as _'I'll have to have that weird Imperial droid disguise again?'_

  
"Yeah, sorry Chop, but we gotta do what we gotta do." Hera replied. "Zeb," She got his attention, "You'll stay behind on the Ghost for the quick pickup. And we can't have Imperials catching a Lasat on Lothal."

  
"As much as I don't like it, I respect why I'm doing it." Zeb said, groaning a little.

  
"Okay, we all know our parts. Let's get ready." Hera said, dismissing the crew.

  
The Ghost already owned disguises for such an occasion as this. Sabine painted Chopper into his Imperial droid disguise again, used washable paint to add some red spots on Hera to give her the appearence of another Twi-Lek. Ezra, Kanan, and Aang wore plain, old hoods, and Sabine just gave herself a different hairstyle and had to painfully leave her armor behind. After they all got their disguises, they gathered back in the cockpit.

  
"Everyone present and accounted for? Are we ready?" Hera asked. The crew responded positively. "Alright. Aang, it's time. Go for it. Ezra, go with him."

  
Ezra followed Aang to a guest room in the Ghost, where there layed a wide-spread device that went from floor to ceiling. It was somewhat an hourglass shape, thinner in the middle than everywhere else, andhad several controls all over it.

  
"What is this? And when did you take time to _build_ it?" Ezra asked.

  
"This is the cloaking device." Aang said, pressing a few buttons on it, starting to turn it on.

  
"This isn't what you used last time." Ezra said.

  
"Maybe not, but this time, we're activating it manually. Help me out here." Aang said, going over to a lever on one side and pointing to one on the other side, "Get that one." Ezra and Aang gripped both levers, then Aang commed the cockpit. "Device is on in three, two, one." Aang said as he and Ezra pulled both levers down. Sparks flew from the machine, and it started humming.

  
"Did it work?" Ezra asked.

  
"Yep." Aang replied.

  
\---

  
        Bando sat still in his office, trying to make sense of things. He was thinking of his previous encounters with the rebels. He remembered, he just remembered being filled with hatred, but he didn't feel that now. He questioned why he hated them. He did those things because he hated them. _'But I don't hate them.'_ He was confused at this point. Then, he felt a shift in the force. He turned around in his chair and sensed Jedi coming down. _'They're here. Why?'_ He pondered that, then thought, _'Guess I'll still have to blend in.'_

  
He stared out the window a moment more, then turned and swiftly left his office. And luckily for him, an officer was standing there. "You, gather my squad." He said.

  
"Um, sir, I'm not a commander." The officer replied. And he didn't need to see Bando's face to know he was glaring. "But, of course, your orders." He said, walking off.

  
\---

  
The Ghost stealthily descended down into Lothal's plains and landed. All the crew except Zeb exited the ship. "Another happy landing." Kanan said.

  
"Okay everyone, we'll need to split up so nothing will be suspicious." Hera said.

  
"Okay, but what if something goes wrong?" Ezra asked.

  
"Retreat back here. Zeb'll handle them off with our invisible ship." Hera replied, grinning.

  
"What if something happens to that someone before he or she gets to the ship?" Ezra asked.

  
"Then that someone took a wrong turn. Let's go." Hera said before everyone split up into town, where they saw Death Troopers sweeping the area.

  
 _'Why are these Death Troopers so populant here on Lothal? It's like this is the only place they are anymore.'_ Ezra thought to himself.

  
Bando then stepped into view up to one of the troopers, "They're here in town. And if they know, they'll evacuate. Don't lockdown just yet, though. I have a plan." Bando said, then all Death Troopers in sight dispatched. Bando looked around, his back to Ezra. Then he turned his head in Ezra's direction for a second. Then a disc-like object appeared in his hand. He flicked his wrist and it flew backwards towards Ezra and stuck in a wall. Then Bando walked away. Ezra looked confused and pulled the object out of the wall. It was a holo-disc. He turned it on and a message from Bando started playing.

  
"This is Bando Roscoe. Formerly from the Empire. This message is for the Ghost crew only-"

  
\---

  
"Hera." Ezra whispered into his comlink. "Bando is heading to the Ghost. His team is searching for us in the town. If we sneak out now, we can make it out with him before they lockdown."

  
"Well, where _is_ he _now_?" Hera asked.

  
"He's almost at the outer gate."

  
"Well, get out. I'll tell the team."

  
"Copy that."

  
\---

  
The crew gathered outside the city, walking back to the Ghost.

  
"Well, he's sitting outside the Ghost now." Ezra said.

  
"How can he be with the Ghost?" Kanan asked out of shock.

  
"Like you said, he'll find us." Ezra said.

  
"Well I'm not too comfortable with that. Let's hurry before he decides to do something else."

  
"Now _you're_ uncomfortable?" Hera asked, sarcastically.

  
The crew reached the Ghost and sure enough, Bando was sitting there. The crew found it hard to tell what he was doing with his helmet on.  
"How did you find our ship?" Kanan asked.

  
"Followed the distinct signature of a Lasat. He is onboard right? Never mind, my team is looking everywhere for you. And if they find you, they will kill you." Bando said.

  
"We know they're looking for us. Ezra got that." Hera motioned towards Ezra, whom Bando took a look at, seeing the disc in his hands. Then, the _'invisible'_ ramp opened up and Zeb came out.

  
"Oh there he is." Bando said, quietly.

  
"We could take on a team of troopers." Zeb said.

  
"No no no, not these guys. They've mastered several of the greatest fighting styles and have nearly my level of intelligence." Bando said.

  
"In that case, let's hurry up and leave-"

  
_**BLAM BLAM, CLANK CLANK** _

  
"Before that." Hera finished. A group of Death Troopers were running up to the rebels.

  
"Go along with this." Bando said to Ezra.

  
"What?" Ezra asked, before blocking a sudden attack from Bando's lightsaber. Zeb then punched Bando hard, knocking him out and bringing him aboard the Ghost. Hera and the crew were firing at the group and were backing up into the Ghost. Hera started closing the ramp. The ramp closed and Hera went up to the cockpit and started flying off while the ship was being shot at, slowly dissipating the cloak.

  
Bando woke up, immediately looked at Zeb and asked, "That's a good way to blend in. Though I'd prefer if you didn't make it seem like you were trying to **kill me**." Bando said, angrily "Where's the pilot of this ship?" He then asked.

  
"In the cockpit." Zeb answered, pointing to the cockpit. Bando went up to the cockpit where Hera was flying the ship upwards into space.

  
"Welcome aboard the Ghost." Hera said.

  
"I wouldn't call being dragged aboard, a welcome, but thanks." Bando replied. "How long can the cloaking device last?"

  
"Ask the Besalisk." She replied, and Bando left the room and saw Aang down in the cargo bay. "You, Besalisk." Aang looked up. "We might not make it all the way past the Imperial blockade with this cloaking device running. How long will it la-" He then heard the ship enter hyperspace.

  
. . .

  
"Never mind." He then walked back into the cockpit.

  
\---

  
Grand Moff Tarkin sat in his chair in the Imperial conference room on the Death Star, expecting Darth Vader to show up. And showed up he did.  
"Reports say the leader of our Lothal division has been captured by Phoenix Squadron." Tarkin said.

  
Vader stood silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you propose to do, Governor?"

  
"We must act now. Let's destroy the rebel base while we have the chance." Tarkin answered.

  
"We are acting as instructed by the order of the Emperor. The rebel base _will_ be destroyed. The cell called Phoenix Squadron will be helpless." Vader said, walking away. Then he stopped. "Who was the leader of the Lothal division?" He asked.

  
"Bando Roscoe." Tarkin replied.

  
"Destroying the rebel base won't be enough. We must take evasive action. I am ordering Phase Two to begin." Vader replied immediately.

  
"Very well, Lord Vader, do what you will. But believe me, you won't want to miss the upcoming spectacle." Tarkin said, standing and leaving.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

  
Chapter 9

  
Bando was sat in a dark room, with a spotlight on him, and a table in front of him. He sat there for a few moments, then the whole room lit up. Hera and Kanan entered the room and sat down in two chairs on the other side of the table. Kanan had a datapad with him.

  
"We're going to ask you about important things you know. But first, state your name." Kanan said.

  
"Bando Roscoe." He replied.

  
"Age?" Kanan asked.

  
"Fifteen." He replied. Kanan and Hera recoiled in total shock. Kanan accidentally fell out of his seat.

  
"Are you joking with us?" Hera aksed.

  
"No. From what I know, I've been with the Empire since I was... five years ago, I think." Bando said.

  
"But, a man of your talents. How can you only be fifteen?" Kanan asked, suddenly getting up and sitting back down.

  
"A little bit is this suit, mainly the helmet. It helps me with my force-training, so past the years, I've grown rather strong with the force. I've studied a ton of battle tactics, so I've become an excellent strategist." Bando explained.

  
. . .

  
"Stand up." Kanan said as both he and Bando stood up. "You're pretty much my height. It's a little tall for your age." Kanan said.

  
"It happens with some people." Bando differed.

  
"We really should get back on track." Hera said.

  
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was watching from behind the one-way glass.

  
"This is almost unbelievable. Fifteen years old." Ezra said, letting out a sigh.

  
"It's not the most unbelievable thing we've heard." Sabine said.

  
"And since when did we have an interrogation room?" Ezra asked.

  
"Ghost crew." Said a familiar, formerly Imperial voice. They turned around and there, they saw none other than Alexandr Kallus.

  
"Kallus, how've things been with you?" Ezra asked.

  
"Same with you, I'll bet." Kallus replied.

  
"I doubt it." Ezra said, looking back into the interrogation room.

  
"Really? Who's this?" Kallus asked, also looking into the room.

 

"Bando Roscoe. He was formerly a sith of the Empire?" Ezra replied.

  
" 'Sith of the Empire' sounds like you're saying there are sith not too fond of the Empire." Kallus said.

  
"Well, there was one. Maul. He didn't like the Empire." Ezra said. Suddenly, he felt a shift in the force coming from Aang. He looked over and saw him clenching his fists, "You okay? You suddenly got angry... after I mention-... Did you know Maul?" Ezra asked, suddenly curious.

  
"Oh did I? He was an enemy of mine for a while. He did some horrible things around my home town." Aang gritted his teeth, "He needed to die. Did he?" Aang asked.

  
"Yeah, he did. He died, of, thirst, on Tatooine." Ezra said.

  
"As long as he's gone." Aang said, looking back into the room.

  
\---

 

"Another thing, this isn't even my height." Bando said, standing up.

  
"What?" Kanan asked, not really surprised, but confused.

  
Bando reached down and pressed a button on each of his boots. The front half of the boots retracted to the back half, revealving that he was standing on his toes, on heightened stands, which were his boot jets, to make him look taller. He was wearing a soft pair of pants that went around his feet. He stepped down, revealing his true look. Most of it anyway. "It does happen with some people, but not me in this case."

  
"Well. This is starting to make sense." Hera said.

  
Kanan and Hera looked at each other, then Kanan asked, "Would it be too much to ask if you could remove your helmet?" Bando stood silent for a few moments, then reached his hands up. But he only touched the helmet when an intercom went off.

  
"All rebels, come outside at once." The speaker said. The three in the room looked at each other, then they all ran outside. Most rebels were packed outside, some rebels were still inside, managing the computers, and General Dodonna and Leia were around a holographic map, showing where the Death Star was. Yavin 4 was almost in range. The rebels outside saw it too. Fear started growing. Rebels embraced those dearest to them close and closed their eyes, waiting for their final moment to end.

  
. . .

  
It didn't.

  
. . .

  
_**BA-BOOM** _

  
"Huh?"

  
The rebels looked up and didn't see the Death Star. Instead, a huge explosion. The rebels started jumping around, rejoicing. Happiness was spreading around. Fear was no more. The Empire had lost this round. The rebellion knew they would survive, prosper, live on.

  
Ezra ran inside, joyful. He and Leia shared a quick hug, then Ezra rushed to General Dodonna and asked, "Who did it? Who won this?"

  
"Red 5 struck the blow." Dodonna said.

  
"Red 5? I thought he-"

  
"He was replaced by the one who is now the hero of the rebellion. Luke Skywalker is his name. This is a cause for celebration."

  
"Indeed it is." Ezra agreed, going back to the Ghost crew. Everyone was rejoicing and shouting still. Ezra jumped and gave Zeb a knoogie, in which Zeb reciprocated. He patted Chopper on his flat dome, and hugged everyone else, and fist bumped Kallus and Aang. He looked over at Bando and sensed that he was shocked.

  
"If you guys weren't so active all the time, I would've been there on the station. But I went back to Lothal to attempt to stop you, so I survived. I appreciate it." Bando said.

  
"We do what we can to save as many as we can." Ezra replied, shaking Bando's hand.

  
\---

  
        Han Solo and Luke Skywalker had just gotten medals and congradulated for their help to the rebellion. The Ghost crew, Aang, Bando, and Kallus stood in the back, joining the rebels in giving a long cheer. Afterwards, Leia stepped up to speak, "Rebels of the galaxy. Today, we rise victorious against the Empire. We watched as their weapon was destroyed and as their plan to destroy us blew up in their faces. Today and forevermore, I want you to remember this moment as the moment where we know we can overcome anything that comes our way, and remember this day, as the rise of the rebellion. Near our darkest hour, a new hope rose and helped release us from the iron grip of the Empire. One day, we stood hopeless, and now, we rose victorious. We won!" The rebels gave another cheer, then they started dismissing.

  
"We know there's another Death Star in development." Ezra said with some joy to Kanan.

  
"Yes, but we'll get it. Someday. We'll beat them the way we did today. Come on Ezra, let's celebrate. You too Bando." Kanan said. Bando quickly looked up at Kanan in some surprise. Kanan just kindly smiled and waved his head in the direction of where the rebels were going.

  
"I'll catch up." Bando said as Kanan and Ezra walked off.

  
_'Maybe the life of a rebel won't be as bad as I thought.'_ Bando thought as he stood for a moment, suddenly feeling free. He had to adjust though, but it felt nice. He thought about what his future could hold for him. _'It can't be as bad as a life with the Empire. These guys look, happy. That's something I haven't experienced, not in a long time. This is worth a shot.'_ Bando thought. Then he walked off to celebrate. Not only the destruction of the Death Star, but the start of a new life.

  
**_THE END..._ **

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**JUST KIDDING. TO BE CONTINUED IN 'THE DARK SIDE OR THE LIGHT? PART II'**

  
**(Part 2 will still be in the same book; it will not be separate.)**


	10. Chapter 10

 

**The Dark Side Or The Light? (Part 2)**

  
Chapter 1 **(Chapter 10)**

  
Bando slept on the comfy, circling couch in the common room. He slept peacefully in his first night with the rebellion. Though he was a little distant from rebel soldiers, he admitted he enjoyed talking to Jedi. When the night came, he knew he might have to adjust to sleeping differently. He suddenly woke and sat up. He pulled up his holo-clock and tried to read the time, but it was blurry.

  
"Darn thing." He mumbled, lightly smacking his helmet a few times, making it focus. Then, he read 0530 on the clock. _'Perfect timing_.' He thought as he got up, stretched, then walked off.

  
\---

  
Ezra and Zeb suddenly woke to the sound of light creaking and gasping.

  
"What the blazes is that?" Zeb asked, getting up and cracking his neck.

  
"I can only guess." Ezra replied as they both quietly walked to the door. Ezra used the force to slowly and quietly open the door. He and Zeb quietly walked to the end of the hall, on the edge of the bridge above the cargo bay and saw Bando doing some push-ups.

  
"Bando? What're you doing up this early?" Ezra asked quietly. Bando stopped, got up, and took a sip of water.

  
"I always get up this early so I can exercise properly. It's a good way to always stay strong during battle." Bando replied only so loud that only Ezra and Zeb could hear him.

  
"Getting up this early?" Ezra asked.

  
"Yeah." Bando replied, taking another sip.

  
Ezra and Zeb looked at each other. "That isn't actually good for you." Zeb told Bando.

  
"It's my regulation." Bando said.

  
"But you don't have to get up _this_ early for exercise." Ezra said back.

  
"It's always been a part of my schedule. Other than exercise, it's always full." Bando said. Ezra jumped down to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

  
        "Hey, it's not anymore. You're being a little hard on yourself. Life as a rebel: Our schedule is pretty much 'fight the Empire' when necessary, and it's not very often. We always have plenty of free time, so you need to relax. Rest some more." Ezra said, kindly. Then he jumped back up and he and Zeb returned to their quarters. Bando just stood silent. _'Too hard on myself?_ ' He thought for a minute, then went back to exercising. But he didn't just shun what Ezra said, he was thinking about it all the way.

  
"Bando? What are you doing up this early?" Hera's voice called. He then groaned in annoyance.

  
\---

  
"Bando." Ezra's voice called. Bando then sprung awake on the couch he slept on.

  
"What?! Oh. How long has it been?" Bando asked.

  
"A few hours actually. You did well on your first night." Ezra answered.

  
"What? Are we supposed to only sleep for a certain amount of time?" Bando asked.

  
"No, no. You just-"

  
"Okay, I see what you're getting at. Don't make it sound like it's such a big deal." Bando interrupted. "And also, I don't appreciate being woken up like that."

  
"Well, we have a mission now." Ezra said.

  
"Really? You guys just struck a major blow against u- the Empire, and you're already going on another mission?" Bando asked, surprised.

  
"Well, yeah. Why not? The Empire's forces are weaker now. Especially with you not in command." Ezra pointed out.

  
. . .

  
"Good... point." Bando said, getting up. "You have a shower here?"

  
"Yep. First, I'll show you around." Ezra replied, getting up.

  
\---

  
Bando finished refreshing himself and strolled over to the base for briefing, where everyone was waiting.

  
"Am I too late?" Bando asked.

  
"Not too late. It's been only a minute since meeting time." Kanan replied.

  
"Okay then. I believe I should get to remembering your names." Bando said.

  
'It's like he's a completely different person." Ezra whispered to Kanan, who grinned and laughed a little.

  
"Ezra Bridger," Bando pointed to Ezra, who nodded. "Aang. I've heard something about you when I was with the Empire. You're quite talented." Bando said, obviously, to Aang, who thanked him for the compliment. "And, sorry. That's all I remember."

  
"Well, I'm Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight. Spectre-1."

  
"Hera Syndulla. Spectre-2. Pilot of the Ghost."

  
 _'C1-10P. Spectre-3.'_ Chopper beeped.

  
"Garazeb Orrelios, former Honor-Guard of Lasan. Spectre-4."

  
"Sabine Wre-"

  
 _ **"HOLD IT!"**_ Bando called out, pulling out a blaster and pointing it at Sabine. "How'd a Mandalorian get here?!"

  
"Um, let me-"

  
" _ **How**_ did one of _them_ get here?!" Bando said, temper rising.

  
"She's a rebel."

  
. . .

  
"What?!" Bando turned to Ezra, purely confused.

  
"Her name is Sabine Wren. Spectre-5." Ezra finished.

  
"House Vizla." Sabine added.

  
"I don't remember you in any of our encounters." Bando said.

  
"Put the blaster down, and we'll talk about this." Kanan said.

  
"You might not have noticed Sabine in our first encounter, and you didn't see her in our second, and in our third, she was disguised." Ezra explained.

  
"A Mandalorian, **_can't_** , be a rebel. They're completely opposite. If there's anything I know, it's: Mandalorians only fight for themselves; **_not_** for what rebels do. Their intentions are only to destroy." Bando said, gritting his not-visible teeth together.

  
"And what are your intentions?" Ezra asked.

  
. . .

  
"She _does_ obviously fight for the rebellion." Ezra answered.

  
. . .

  
"House, _Vizla_ , you said?" Bando asked Sabine.

  
"Yes." Sabine answered.

  
"The traitorous house to Mandalore... I'll tolerate it." Bando said, holstering his blaster.

  
"Okay, this is a simple supply run. Here's what you're going to be picking up-" General Dodonna briefed them on the mission. Bando shortly glared at Sabine before focusing on the mission brief.

  
\---

  
        A cloak dragged itself across the floor of the Imperial facility on Lothal. Imperials were lined up to acknowledge his presence. Many of them were scared of this mysterious person; but if it meant defeating the rebellion, they were alright with it. The cloak revealed nothing of the person under it, except his arms. The lead commander stepped up hesitantly to the figure and said, "We-welcome to L-Lothal. I hope you-" He was interrupted by the figure grabbing his throat in a vaccum-tight seal around his neck. The figure used the force to stop the blood from flowing in his body, and sucked the air from his lungs, flaking his skin up and cooling his system due to the lack of blood flow.

  
        "You let the rebels take Bando Roscoe. You have failed the Empire and will pay for your mistake with your life." His voice was very deep, masked, and muffled. It echoed all throughout the room, sending chills down every spine. Then he dropped the cold body down on the floor. " _ **You all will**_!" He said, then started using the force to make every vehicle in the room turn and shoot every Imperial in sight.

  
Then a stormtrooper officer walked up behind the sith and asked, "Orders, sir?"

  
"Bring in the new division and put them to work immediately."

  
"Yes sir."

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

Chapter 2 (Chapter 11)

  
The spectres of the Ghost sat in the cockpit, while Aang and Bando sat in the nosegun. The ship was flying at lightspeed to Lothal for the pickup.  
"Hey guys, would you mind leaving. I'd like to talk to Bando." Hera said.

  
"Sure." They all replied, then left the area.

  
"Bando. Come sit up here." Hera said, reaching over and patting the co-pilot seat. Bando hesitantly went up and sat.

  
"If you have a bad history with Mandalorians, I'd like to help you through it." Hera told him softly.

  
"Who in all the galaxy doesn't have one? They're savage, selfish beasts. They only care about power, they only care about being feared, and they only care about survival. They'd dare _join_ the _Empire_ to survive; that shows just how flawed they are in their ways. Contradicting their way of life _just_ to survive so they can terrorize people later." Bando hastely replied.

  
"Would that make Sabine a traitor?" Hera asked.

  
"Why did she decide to join?"

  
"To save her _family_ , because of something she built. She did it to right her wrong; she didn't do it just to save herself."

  
"I can still sense some Mandalorian-ness -xenophobia- in her. It's still not adding up."

  
"Well she was a Mandalorian for a big portion of her life. It's hard for me to say if some of her past still haunts her. But she is what she is: a Mandalorian rebel."

  
"You can only be one or the other; you can't be both. They're complete opposites. You can take the person out of the Mandalorian, but you can't take the Mandalorian out of the person. There will always be some savageness in her."

  
"And what about you? Do you think you're any better? You _used_ to be a sith, and we still accepted you. We accepted Sabine the same way; you should too. Show her the same acceptance we showed you."

  
"You can only _hope_ for that; I said I'd tolerate her; be thankful for _that_." Bando said, going back down to the nose gun and into the common room. Just then, Kanan entered the cockpit and sat next to Hera.

  
"The dark side still lingers in him, and he's still a teenager. What a nightmare." Kanan said, sarcastically.

  
"He's going to be so ticked off when he knows we have a Mandalorian army on our side." Hera replied.

  
"Oh boy."

  
\---

  
"Alright everyone, we're exiting hyperspace." Hera announced to everyone in the cockpit. As they exited hyperspace, they did not expect what they saw. Star destroyers blown apart; some broken. They didn't see any attack commensing from the outside; this took curiosity to a new level. Especially for Bando.

  
"Is the Empire really _that_ vulnerable without me?" Bando asked himself. The Ghost flew directly past the disabled star destroyers without any fire.

  
"Aang, is your device on?" Hera asked, now getting a little concerned.

  
"Uh. N-no." Aang replied, trying to make sense of what he was seeing, everyone else doing the same.

  
The Ghost was flying down through the clouds, and what they saw next was even more unexpected. Imperials versus imperials. Stormtroopers were going at it from all over against each other. Intense firepower was flying everyone. Everyone aboard the Ghost was now completely baffled. What was going on amongst the Empire? Hera then quickly swerved the Ghost upwards into the clouds again.

  
"What in the name of the force was that?" Ezra asked.

  
"We don't have time for this right now. We need to get those supplies, then we can figure this out." Hera said as she continued piloting the Ghost above the clouds. Ezra stepped up and peered out the window to look through clouds to tell if they were near town. It was only a matter of moments before they were. Hera swerved down into town.

  
"It's deserted. Where is everyone?" Ezra asked as the ship landed.

  
"Alright everybody, be on guard." Hera said as the crew headed to the cargo bay. Ezra, Kanan, and Aang readied their lightsabers. Bando decided to stay behind.

  
"You know what Aang? You should stay with Bando." Kanan said.

  
"Ah! Good call." Aang agreed, putting his lightsaber back on his belt.

  
The ramp lowered and they all pointed their blasters forward and Ezra and Kanan poised their lightsabers.

  
"There's no one here." Kanan said, probing the area with the force.

  
"Alright, let's move." Hera said, moving forward.

  
"Hera, where are the supplies supposed to be?" Ezra asked. Hera waved her hand over to where they were coordinated. They found the crates in an alley, abandoned. The crew was getting suspicious.

  
"Here they are. Everyone get a crate and let's go." Hera said.

  
Everyone grabbed a crate, then turned to push it back to the Ghost. But a single, wounded Imperial was leaning against the wall on the edge of the alley. "What are you doing here?" He asked, panting heavily.

  
"What?" Ezra asked, confused.

  
"Lothal is now a warzone. Ever since you captured Bando Roscoe, the tables have turned. Someone _else_ is pulling the strings now. He's personally arrested every citizen here, and he's wiped out nearly every Imperial from the original division sent here. He caused the revolt you may have seen on your way down." The Imp said.

  
"Who is it?" Kanan asked.

  
"A demon. No imperial has seen anything like him before. He wears a cloak to hide his identity, but he has the power of legends. Pray you _never_ encounter him. It will be your final battle." The officer said. He looked down, then up at them. "If you survive, you will need this." He handed them a chip.

  
"Why are _you_ helping _us_?" Ezra asked.

  
"In time, you will know." The officer replied, staring deep into Ezra's eyes.

  
The crew huddled to briefly discuss their thoughts.

  
"This seems very convincing. The guy is wounded; he's definitely fought with the Empire." Sabine said.

  
"And what _else_ can we do?" Kanan asked.

  
"I wasn't having any negative thoughts." Hera said.

  
"Maybe we could salvage some of the betrayed Imperials and, I don't know, they could join us?" Ezra suggested.

  
"Not a bad idea. Not really good, but not terrible." Kanan said.

  
"Well we better make a decision fast. We apparently don't want this new leader on our tails." Hera said.

  
"Ok well, after some careful considerations, we've decided-" Ezra stopped short at the sight he saw when he turned around. The officer had bled out, collapsed, and died on the spot.

  
"Woah." Zeb exclaimed quietly.

  
"He was involved in the revolt." Hera said. "Well, we shouldn't wait here to get caught."

  
"Agreed." Kanan agreed.

  
The crew pushed the crates all the way onboard the Ghost, then before Hera got to the cockpit, Ezra spoke up. "Wait, Hera." He called, "I think we should check things out."

  
"Out there?" Hera asked, reluctance radiating from her downward expression.

  
"Yeah. I need to know how serious this is." Ezra said.

  
Hera knew how much Ezra cared for Lothal, but she knew that he knew very well how much she cared for everyone's safety, so she was inclined to say, "Ezra. It's too dangerous out there."

  
"Oh come on, what's the worst that could happen? There are only stormtroopers out there." Ezra pointed out. Hera gave this a quick thought, then agreed hesitantly.

  
"Bando! Aang!" Hera called out. Seconds later, they were present.

  
"We're going out there. You guys want a say in this?" Hera asked.

  
"I'll stay behind on this one. If anything was to happen to you guys, we'll need one Jedi alive." Aang said.

  
"There are only stormtroopers out there, Aang." Hera replied.

  
"As far as we saw." Ezra added.

  
"Okay. Bando?"

  
"Some of my troops are out there. I too need to know what's really going on." Bando replied, a slight hint of aggravation in his tone.

  
"Guys." Kanan said before getting everyone's attention. "I just got an idea."

  
\---

  
Red lasers filled the gray, cloudy skies; dead bodies continued to populate the dark grassy grounds. Two teams of stormtroopers, Imperial officers and commanders, were firing at each other. Each side was constantly getting refueled with reinforcements and some thought the battle seemed like it was never going to end.

  
"This is the last of our reinforcements, let's make them count!" An officer shouted over the blaster fire. And just then, everything froze as they heard a loud crack-boom. Just then, Bando was flown into the air, towards the civil war. He landed in between the line, forming a small crater in the ground. Everyone stood at alert at his presence.

  
"M-My Lord. How did you escape the rebels?" An officer Bando was familiar with asked.

  
"It was simple. They were weak; but, not dead." Bando proclaimed. "Now. _**What is GOING ON HERE**_?!" He shouted with fake fury, but it seemed real enough to the Imperials.

  
"A new division of Imperials arrived, and they're bent on destroying us for failing on keeping you from the rebels." The officer replied.

  
"Well, I would request a meeting with your new leader. But first..." Then the Ghost crew jumped down to the ground from above and landed next to Bando. Bando turned to his officer and said, "We'll wipe out this new faction. Phoenix Squadron will help if there's any hope of your survival." The officer was speechless.

  
"Um. Y-yes... sir."

  
"Well then, as you were." Then the Ghost crew readied their weapons and charged forward at the new Imperials.

  
The blaster fire began again. Bando stood back with his Imperials and deflected the shots that went his way. Ezra and Zeb started running through and knocking out troopers with their weapons. Aang suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline and rushed forward, slicing troopers' bodies, Sabine started throwing detonators in places where no other rebel was. They were seemingly winning, but it only was beginning.

  
Everyone heard the prominent 'whir' of TIE Fighters and the Ghost crew were suddenly fired down upon. The Jedi and Bando used their lightsabers to deflect the TIE fire and their blasters to occupy the stormtroopers.

  
"Aang!" Ezra called. "Let's try out that new trick we learned." Aang grinned. He and Ezra grabbed wrists, then spun each other around, taking care of any stormtroopers around them, then Aang used all his might to throw Ezra up into the air, and at that moment, he sliced through the middle of a TIE, making it crash down into the rogue group of Imperials.

  
Just as the scores were beginning to un-even out, the rogues stopped, then so did the other group. The newbies made a path for their new leader. He was just as the now-dead officer described to the Ghost crew. A cloak covered all except his arms. His face was covered with his hood; the cloak was dark, almost so dark that he was camouflaged into the sky. He stopped a few yards away from Bando.

  
"You're the traitor I've heard about that's been killing off all my men, I presume?" Bando asked. The cloak stood silent.

  
"You're the traitor that's joined with the rebellion to help kill off all my men, I presume?" The stranger asked. Bando turned his head slightly, confused. "To move things along: you know we're not so different, don't you?"

  
"Who are you?" Bando asked.

  
"You know who I am." He replied.

  
"How should I?" Bando asked, seriously. The stranger raised his head in curiosity. "I've never seen the likes of you."

  
The stranger stretched his arms out to the side, his hands glowing red. Suddenly, everything around Bando started decimating. He and the stranger were floating in a dark atmosphere. Sparks were flying out under them, as if they were above a volcano. The sparks disappeared as they descended down until they reached an underground lair, where they saw several cloaked people around a grave. The grave looked aged. It was covered in spider webs and was eroded. The cloaked people were speaking a native tongue which Bando recognized as an ancient sith language, but it was severely outdated. Then, their hands were glowing green, and so did the grave. Well, it was glowing from the inside. Then it all faded, and one of them spoke English. "Rise, ancient master of the sith. The time for your awakening has come. Rise, and take vengeance."

  
"What is this?" Bando asked.

  
"Your origin." The stranger answered.

  
"I'm a reincarnation of whoever is lying there?" Bando asked, pointing to the grave with his thumb.

  
"Oh no. But he, is what kept you alive." The stranger said.

  
"What are you talking about? And how do you know this?" Bando asked, now getting concerned.

  
Everything decimated again, and they were back in the present.

  
"I know because..." The stranger removed his cloak and revealed himself, "I am you."

He was the spitting image of Bando, only less Imperial looking. He didn't have a cape, boots, or gloves. His outfit was similar to Bando's, only a little more sith/Jedi robe-like.

  
  
Bando knew he was telling the truth. His scanners in his helmet detected the same things observed in himself. The DNA was the same, the height, everything. He was, "A clone."

  
"Now you see it. Now, we get down to business." The Bando clone said, before he drew out his twin purple lightsabers. "Time to die, traitor."

  
"I couldn't agree with myself more." Bando replied, whipping out his lightsabers.

  
" **This battle is between me and him**! **No one interfere**!" The clone screeched, then the clones raised their lightsabers to their faces, the blades parallel with each other.

  
"For the Empire." The clone said.

  
"For my life." Bando said. They swung their lightsabers and struck blades a few times before accidentally falling off balance and stumbling away. Bando picked up his blaster, turned around and shot at his clone. The clone turned around and absorbed the shot with his hand. They charged at each other again and were caught in an extreme battle. As it was going on, Ezra closed his eyes and looked into the Bando clone. He didn't sense anything unusual about him, just a typical cold sith presence.

  
The battle went on for several moments, the same thing was playing over and over again. The clone was getting tired of it, so he decided to change things up a bit. He grabbed Bando and flew up into the sky with his boot jets. Meanwhile, back on the ground, the soldier battle raged on.

  
"And now there's _that_ guy." Ezra mumbled.

  
\---

  
The clones were flying around the area, punching, elbowing, and kicking each other. They were nearing some mountains when Bando managed to push the clone away and shoot a small missile into the mountain. Bando used the force to launch some crumbling boulders at the clone. The clone just ignited his lightsabers and cut the pieces that went his way. Bando then pulled his arm back, pulling any boulders that went behind him, back towards the clone, hitting his head and arms. The clone then flew towards Bando with his lightsabers pointing forward. He knew Bando would move out of the way with such an imposing move, so he also sneakily used the force to retaliate what Bando did, only Bando got hit fewer times.

  
The clone's hands started glowing again and several apparitions appeared, coming out of the clone's body. Bando started flying around trying to slice them all, to find them disappearing when he came near them. He looked around, and created a giant force-repulse, making all of them disappear. He looked around and didn't see the clone. Then it started raining.

  
"Oh perfect." Bando muttered. Just then, he sensed himself behind himself and swung himself around, force-pushing the clone away. Bando flew towards him speedily. He delivered a hard punch to the clone. Then the clone's hands started glowing again, and he disappeared. Bando recovered and straightened himself up. Panting, he looked around for the clone. He didn't want to give the chance of a surprise attack by staying in the same place, so he flew over to the broken mountain for a steady foundation. All of a sudden, the clone came from nowhere and punched Bando so hard, using the force to assist him, that Bando was flown off the mountain. He fell down, hitting some rocks on the way down. He started recovering and slowly started getting up. The clone flew down fast, stopped his boot jets and landed, using Bando's head to break his fall.

  
"You're so obtuse to your abilities. You're no match for me." The clone said, circling around Bando and stabbing through his shoulder. "If you hadn't been so naive, you wouldn't be a subject to so much of... this." The clone gestured to all of Bando. "Join the Empire again, and become more. Be a force-god."

  
Just then, Bando swiped his arm around, using the force to trip the clone. The clone's lightsaber unignited and its owner quickly got back up and saw Bando trying to get up. He ran up to kick him down, just to have Bando hold it in place, disabling the clone's moving. The storm advanced as lightning started hitting, and the thunder sounding. Bando looked up, fury emitting everywhere. Screaming, he used all the strenght he could muster to throw the clone into the mountain wall. He pulled up a small missile from his other arm and shot it into the clone. When the smoke cleared, he saw the clone on the ground, unconscious, but not dead. Bando was confused, scared, and furious. He knew he couldn't kill him with a lightsaber. His armor was too strong for that. Bando limped away, trying to fly off. Due to the fall, his boot jets barely worked. Bando just made it off the ground, then he steadily flew off to the Ghost crew.

  
Bando noticed his chest was bleeding. He held his hand there and compressed, keeping from letting too much blood leak out. He arrived back to the scene to find the Ghost flying above ground with all the rogue Imperials dead on the ground and his guys boarding the Ghost.

  
_'What?'_ Bando thought as he started flying faster into the cargo bay. He stumbled, but landed on his back on the crates the Ghost crew salvaged earlier. Kanan sensed Bando's feelings and felt a little cold, then he sensed his condition. "Bando!" He called, all the Imperials suddenly seeing Bando. "Are you alright?"

  
"No! Not currently! I'm bleeding and **_severely_ ** wounded!" Bando answered harshly, getting up to fly himself to the medbay.

  
"Hey, let one of us help you." Kanan insisted.

  
"No. I know how to manage." Bando said, slowly calming down, to Kanan's relief.

  
\---

  
Bando sat down in the medbay and grabbed the bandages. He locked the doors for his precedure.

  
\---

  
Kanan sat down in the co-pilot's seat of the Ghost. "Where's Bando?" Hera asked.

  
"He's okay. So he says." Kanan replied.

  
" _'Is he injured?'_ is what I meant." Hera tried.

  
"Well, he's, kinda, bleeding out; he's taking care of himself. Says he knows how to manage it." Kanan answered.

  
"People are always lying when they say that, you know that right?" Hera asked.

  
"Yeah, but being a former Imperial, I bet he knows how to take care of himself." Kanan said.

  
"I don't. Take over." Hera said, getting up from the pilot's seat. Kanan scooched over and took control.

  
Hera tried opening the medbay, but it wouldn't open.

  
"Bando! You in there?" Hera asked loudly.

  
"Yes." Bando replied, annoyed.

  
"Please open the door." Hera insisted.

  
"You're not ready for _this_." Bando said.

  
"For what?" Hera asked.

  
"There are things about me I'd prefer you didn't know just yet." Bando said.

  
"Poor guy." Hera whispered.

  
\--- Time skip---

  
Bando exited the medbay. He had a bandage wrapped over his wound and under his robe. He leaned on the wall as he limped around. He just stopped and leaned on the wall, and started thinking.

  
_'How do I learn of my abilities like he did? He's so much more advanced than me. Obtuse? Obtuse. Just how much power do I wield? As much as he does, perhaps. Whatever the case may be, I beat him. And if I can beat him then, I can do it again. And I can take anything that comes our way.'_

  
\---

  
_Systems rebooting._

  
_Testee unconscious._

  
_Activating healing process._

  
"GRRGH!" The Bando clone shot upwards, swiping his hand around, throwing rocks forward. Then he realized no one was there. He grimaced under the helmet, _'Phoenix Squadron. I'm coming for you.'_

 


	12. Chapter 12

  
Chapter 3 (Chapter 12)

  
Bando limped into the cockpit, and asked, "What are you planning on doing with my men?"

  
"Oh, I didn't hear you come in. They surrendered." Hera answered.

  
"And... what are you planning on doing with them?" Bando asked again.

  
"They laid their weapons down and surrendered. When we get back to base, we're going to decide what we're going to do with them. In other words, we don't know yet." Hera finished.

  
"Oh. Well-"

  
CREEEEEAK, BOOM.

  
"What was that?" Hera asked aloud.

  
"Who knows?" Bando answered.

  
Then a flying saucer came into view. Kanan and Zeb entered the cockpit at the same moment.

  
"Hera, what was that?" Kanan asked.

  
"It's a flying saucer." Hera replied.

  
"Flying saucer? I haven't seen those since... Oh no." Kanan cut his sentence short.

  
"Kanan, what is it?"

  
"A pirate ship."

  
"Oh no. No more pirates for me, we're outta here." Hera said, trying to fly away, only to discover they were locked in a tractor beam.

  
"Blast it!" Hera shouted.

  
"Does she really hate pirates that much?" Bando asked Kanan.

  
"Yeah. I don't know anyone who doesn't. Except Ezra." Kanan replied.

  
"Guys, what's going on?" Ezra asked, coming into the cockpit.

  
"Pirates." Zeb replied.

  
"What do they want?" Ezra asked.

  
"Let's find out." Zeb replied as they went out to the airlock to greet the pirates.

  
"This I have to see." Bando said, following them.

  
"Oh boy. There's a mess waiting to happen." Kanan said.

  
Zeb, Bando, and Ezra waited for the pirates by the airlock. They heard the distinct pirate grumbles on the other side. The airlock opened and Weequays stood by the airlock, staring down the three. Shortly afterwards, five different figures entered the ship through the airlock. They consisted of: a Tholothian, an Ithorian, a Nautolan, a human, a Rodian, and a Wookie.

  
"Alright, who might you be?" Ezra asked.

  
"I," The human answered, "Am Petro."

  
"I am Katooni." The Tholothian answered next.

  
"Byph." The Ithorian said with a translator on his neck.

  
"Ganodi." The Rodian said.

  
"I'm Zatt." The Nautolan answered.

  
The Wookie growled, which the others translated as "I am Gungi."

  
"Are you guys Jedi? I sense the force within you." Ezra said.

  
"Well, kinda. We haven't had a master to teach us much after Order 66." Petro answered.

  
"Luckily, we were far away from the clutches of the Empire when it happened." Katooni added.

  
"Have you guys been on your own since?" Ezra asked.

  
"Well no, we were picked up by an old firend. We've been told he knows you." Petro said.

  
"Oh no." Zeb said, starting to suspect.

  
"Hellooooo." The voice of none other than Hondo called out coming into the airlock. "Hahaha, Ezra Bridger, my my, you- actually, you haven't changed much, but hey. It's good to see you."

  
"I still wish I could say the same." Ezra mumbled.

  
"Oh no there's nothing to worry about. Just your old friend Hondo out for a plunde- um, visit." Hondo said.

  
"Hondo? Hondo Ohnaka?" Bando asked, catching Hondo's attention.

  
"Yes, that is me- oh my goodness! Bando Roscoe!" Hondo said as the two gave each other a side hug.

  
"And here I was thinking nobody changed. But my goodness, you've grown. You were so young when I last saw you. What have you been doing this whole time?"

  
"I think I was brainwashed to serve the Empire, but I obviously broke out of it." Bando replied.

  
"I KNOW THAT VOICE!" A not-so-happy Kanan shouted.

  
"Oh, greetings, Jedi." Hondo replied, bowing shortly.

  
"Don't do that." Kanan insisted.

  
"Very well." Hondo replied, getting up.

  
"What do you want?" Kanan asked, Hera joining his side.

  
"Well, I heard of the big decrease of Imperial population, so I thought we could salvage some treasures from them. You know."

  
"Who are they?" Kanan asked.

  
"Pirate-Jedis." Hondo replied with a raised, excited tone.

  
"Jedi?" Kanan asked, surprised.

  
"Yes. I'm Petro... I'm also a human." Petro said, noticing Kanan's blindness.

  
"I'm Ganodi. I'm a Rodian."

  
"Grrargh." 'I'm Gungi. I'm a Wookie.'

  
"I'm Katooni. I am a Tholothian."

  
"I'm Byph. An Ithorian."

  
"I'm Zatt. I'm Nautolan."

  
"Well it's good to know there are more Jedi around. I'm Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight." Kanan introduced.

  
"Jedi Knight?!" The six Padawans exclaimed.

  
"Yep. He taught me." Ezra said proudly.

  
"Don't suppose you could teach us a thing or two sometime?" Zatt asked.

  
"Why not? I doubt you've learned anything necessary from him." Kanan said, jerking a thumb towards Hondo.

  
"Indeed; I'm so proud." Hondo said.

  
"Say Hondo, mind doing us a favor?" Bando asked.

  
"Name it." Hondo replied, putting an arm around Bando's shoulder.

  
"We just came from Lothal from a deadly duel with a deadly opponent. So we were thinking if you'd like to help us defeat him."

  
"What!" Kanan exclaimed.

  
"Not again!" Hera said.

  
"We'd have more than enough Jedi to defeat him." Bando added. That got Kanan second thoughts. "And I was wondering if you have any useful allies on your hands."

  
"I thought you'd never ask." Hondo said.

  
"I thought you'd think you'd never see me again, therefore never having the chance not to think I'd ask for reinforcements." Bando replied.

  
"Whatever you just said, I'm sure it made sense. I have one I believe you will find useful, but I can't tell you just yet." Hondo replied.

  
"We're not paying you." Kanan said, crossing his arms.

  
"Oh! You strike a hard bargain."

  
"I'm not striking any bargain."

  
"Oh, very well."

  
"So do we have an accord?" Bando asked.

  
"We do." Hondo said, holding his hand out.

  
"Fine." Kanan said, shaking Hondo's hand.

  
"We'll let you know when we need you." Hera said.

  
"Very well, I will see you soon. Let's go." Hondo said to his crew, who followed him inside his ship.

  
Hera closed the airlock then said "Which will hopefully be never."

  
"I couldn't agree more." Kanan said.

  
"He's offering us help for a change. Give him some credit for that." Ezra said.

  
. . .

  
. . .

  
"I just won't trust him very much." Kanan said.

  
'Better than giving him no trust at all.' Ezra thought.

 


	13. Chapter 13

  
Chapter 4 **(Chapter 13)**

  
The Ghost landed safely on Yavin 4. Hera pushed the supplies out while the Ghost crew, Aang, and Bando surrounded the surrendered Imperials as they were led outside. They were met by Mon Mothma and General Dodonna.

  
"Captain Syndulla, what is the meaning of this?" General Dodonna motioned towards the group of Imperials.

  
"They surrendered, General. Laid their weapons down at our feet like they had no choice." Hera said.

  
"Maybe they were following Roscoe." Mothma suggested. "He _was their_ leader, am I correct?"

  
"Well, yes." Hera answered.

  
"Do you have a plan for what you're going to do with them?" General Dodonna asked.

  
"Not yet." Hera said.

  
\---

  
"Which of you is the highest in command?" Kanan asked.

  
"That would be me." A commander stepped up.

  
"What's your name?" Kanan asked.

  
"It's Bren Derlin." He replied.

  
"What was your intention when surrendering?" Kanan asked.

  
"We were hoping to join the rebellion since there was no place for us back on Lothal. It was a tough choice, but they all complied." Bren said.

  
"That will be a tough choice for us to make. You understand?" Kanan said.

  
Bren let out a sigh, then replied, "I do."

  
"We'll consult with our leaders. But for now, everyone else will take you guys to where you'll be staying." Kanan said, walking away.

  
\---

  
"We got a location of some possible new allies within this chip. This should help us in our new objective mission." Hera said, holding up a chip.

  
"New mission?" General Dodonna asked curiously.

  
"Yes. I'll let you know in our mission report." Hera said.

  
"Very well, let's take care of that now." Dodonna said as the authorities went inside for the report.

  
\---

  
"A new threat has risen to take Bando's place in command on Lothal, someone very powerful." Hera said.

  
"Who was it? Do you know anything about him?" Mon Mothma asked.

  
"He... is a clone of Bando." Hera replied nervously.

  
. . .

  
. . .

  
. . .

  
"A clone?"

  
"Yes. He and Bando engaged in a fight, and Bando barely escaped alive." Hera explained.

  
"What specifically happened during the fight?"

  
"I didn't see the whole thing; the rest of us were involved in helping the Imperials we have in a revolt against a new faction of Imperials."

  
All this news was a bit to take in for Mon Mothma. She wasn't shaken, merely confused. "Bring in Bando for questioning."

  
"Yes ma'am." Hera replied.

  
Hera left briefly to bring in Bando. When she did, she had Bando sit down.

  
"Bando Roscoe, you were recently caught in a fight between you and a clone. What specifically happened and what reasons are there that we should worry?" Mothma asked.

  
"Well, there's nothing to worry about. I killed him." Bando replied.

  
"That's a relief, but what was the meaning of his presence on Lothal?" Mothma asked.

  
"As far as I know, he and his new faction arrived to take over because the previous failed to reclaim me from the Ghost crew. We made it look like they captured me and they seemed to buy the facade. But they now know I'm with the rebellion and I'm sure the whole Empire will be looking for me."

  
"Now, there's no need to exaggerate. The _whole_ Empire won't be looking for you." Hera said.

  
"I'm pretty sure they will." Bando replied, slowly turning to look at Hera.

  
"What in all the galaxy could be _that_ important to the Empire?" Hera asked.

  
"the likes of me: a super soldier." Bando replied.

  
"What do you mean _'super soldier?'_ " Mothma asked.

  
"A person designed with special abilities, and in my case, abilities with the force. Some would consider it super, but my abilities are merely at their lowest." Bando replied.

  
"We know what a super soldier is; we need a few more specifications." Mothma said.

  
"A sith designed with several boosted human abilities. Strength, speed, anything like that." Bando said.

 

"You were designed?" Hera asked.

  
"No. No, the _'super soldier_ ' was designed. They just needed someone to test out the drug-like serum on to make him the super soldier." Bando explained.

  
"So the _'super soldier'_ is a serum?" Mothma asked.

  
"You could say so."

  
"Is there anything else we should know?" Mothma asked.

  
Bando looked down, sighed, then looked back up. "When I was taken by the Ghost crew, the Empire had another to immediately take my place, and now that that one's gone, I'm beginning to think there's more to come."

  
"You mean-"

  
"Yes. I believe there's going to be an army of soldiers... Just like me."

  
\---

  
"If this is what we're going up against , we might just lose." Kanan said.

  
"We have an opportunity." Ezra said, holding up the chip that the Imperial gave Hera on Lothal. Hera saw it and felt around in one of her pockets -where the chip originally was- but didn't feel it. Ezra just shot her a smirk before entering the chip into the holotable.

  
It took a moment before popping up, and when it did. They saw four shadowed faces on a screen and their location.

  
"They don't have names listed. _'99'_ is all that's posted. And they're on Kashyyyk." Sabine said.

  
"I like Kashyyyk. It'd be the perfect place for a hideout." Aang said.

  
"Well, who're we going to send to retrieve these guys?" Kanan asked.

  
"We've been ordered to help pack up so we can move our base to a more secure location, so we can't send anyone like _us_." Hera replied, motioning towards herself and Kanan.

  
...

  
"I say Ezra should take this mission." Kanan said, grinning at Ezra, who slightly recoiled.

  
"Me? Alone?" Ezra asked, a small hint of teasing.

  
"Nah, Sabine'll go with you. We need everyone else here." Hera said.

  
"Um... okay. But if the Empire arrives?" Ezra asked.

  
"What was it you said about Kashyyyk, Aang?" Kanan asked.

  
"It's a good place to hide a base. But in your case, it'll be easier to hide yourselves." Aang said.

  
"And a ship?" Ezra asked.

 

"Well, yeah." Aang replied.

  
"So, you two get prepared and do your best to hurry. We're counting on you." Hera said.

  
"You got it." Ezra said.

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

  
Chapter 5 **(Chapter 14)**

  
Ezra packed the essentials for his and Sabine's mission to the infamous jungle planet, Kashyyyk. Sabine packed the necessary weaponry, and when they were done, they pushed their supplies to Ezra's ship The Gauntlet.

  
"You sure we got everything?" Ezra asked.

  
"Yeah, I've been going over this. We should be good." Sabine replied.

  
 _'I got my blaster; my lightsaber. Lightsaber!'_ Ezra thought, then asked, "You got your darksaber?"

  
"Yep." Sabine answered, patting the hilt on her belt. She then read over the items on the list out loud and Ezra confirmed if they were there. Once they were done, Ezra sat in the pilot's seat, Sabine in the copilot's seat, and took off. Once they entered space, The Gauntlet jumped into lightspeed.

  
"Coordinates set for Kashyyyk." Ezra said as his ship entered hyperspace.

  
\---  
"So, do you have any suspicion as to who these guys are?" Sabine asked.

  
"I don't know, but we'll find out more." Ezra said as he pulled up the chip they used to find out about the four strangers.

  
"Do you always do stuff like this without a second thought?" Sabine asked, slightly amused.

  
"Not always." Ezra said. He inserted the chip into the Gauntlet and the hologram popped up. "See if you can decode it." Ezra suggested.

  
"It's not that easy. We might be there before I can finish. Then, there'd be no point." Sabine reasoned.

  
"No it wouldn't; you could still work while I retrieve these guys." Ezra replied.

  
"And let you have all the fun? I don't think so." Sabine replied, provoking a chuckle from Ezra.

  
\---

  
"Well, you're up again." Sabine said to the old Tactical Battle Droid's head as she placed it on the controls of the Gauntlet as it flew into Kashyyyk's atmosphere. The process, similar to when the Ghost crew was looking for Rex, reoccured. The Gauntlet flew over Kashyyyk's vast forests. The droid head kept saying "99" when they were there. Ezra and Sabine knew they were out of range when the droid was silenced.

  
"We passed them." Sabine said.

  
"I got that." Ezra said, swerving the ship around. The droid activated again.

  
"They're under us somewhere." Ezra said, landing the ship near some equally big trees. He and Sabine exited the ship and began their search.

  
"Now if these guys are brave enough to hide _here_ of all places, they've _got_ to be good in battle." Ezra said.

  
"You got _'good in battle'_ from being brave enough to hide here?" Sabine asked, laughing a little bit.

  
"This place has the perfect atmosphere to use camouflage for hiding. If these guys are hiding, they've got to be using some kind of camouflage, and usually, battle soldiers are excellent with camouflage." Ezra theorized.

  
"That's a good point." Sabine agreed.

  
"Did Mandalorians use camouflage in battle?" Ezra asked.

  
"Sometimes. We rarely needed it. Most fights we were involved in were inside Mandalore, but I'm sure it was used often in the Mandalorian War." Sabine replied.

  
Then Ezra suddenly drew out his lightsaber and deflected a blaster bullet that went his way. "Yep. Camouflage."

  
"Who's there?" A voice called. It sounded only a little similar to Rex's voice.

  
"This situation is _really_ familiar."

  
"We're Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren from Phoenix Squadron, of the Rebellion." Ezra shouted.

  
The sniper in the trees saw Ezra's lightsaber and knew he was a Jedi. He jumped down from the tree branch, swung from a vine and landed in front of them.

  
"Little young to be a Jedi huh?" The man asked, lowering his gun.

  
"Not at all. What's your name?" Ezra replied.

  
"Crosshair. From Clone Force 99, known as the _'Bad Batch.'_ " Crosshair said. "At least it was. Until that so-called Empire arrived. Speaking of _'arrived'_ , what're you here for?"

  
"We were hoping to find out if you would join us against the Empire. We're up against something dangerous and need help from you."

  
"Aaaaaah, now that sounds like fun; I've been dying to strike them. But you'll have to get word from the others. "

  
"You agreed just like that?" Ezra asked, a little shocked.

  
"You surprised? Oh! Was old man Rex a little stubborn when you got him?" Crosshair asked, laughing a little.

  
"You know about Rex?" Ezra asked.

  
"I helped him decide where to hide. He fought alongside us on Anaxes, our most memorable fight yet. After the Empire arrived, I've always wanted to get at them."

  
"Well, the Empire knows where you are. They've had this chip-" Ezra held up the computer chip, "And your location is on it."

  
"Oh I'm aware they know of our location." Crosshair said, motioning for them to follow him. "They've gone at us a few times, but never got to respond to the Empire. This place gives us the advantage to maneuver their every move."

  
"Aang was right, this is a good hiding spot." Sabine whispered in Ezra's ear.

  
Just then, they pushed past some bushes and saw a huge pit with several Imperial vehicles gathered.

  
"Wow." Ezra and Sabine said in unison.

  
"And where do you keep the Imperial bodies?" Ezra asked.

  
"We don't. Wrecker feeds them to the giant fishes." Crosshair replied.

  
"Wrecker?"

  
"This guy! Right here." A deeper, gruff voice spoke up from behind Ezra, scaring him. "I'm Wrecker. The strongest clone that ever was."

  
"O-okay. Um-" Ezra stuttered; everyone chuckled at Ezra's reaction.

  
Then, Crosshair spotted Star Destroyers entering their system. "We better get inside before we deal with our weekly Imperial mess." He said.

  
"This should be a fun experience." Ezra said, recovered fromhis scare.

  
\---

  
Crosshair, Ezra, and Sabine entered a small hut, only to find it was much bigger inside; Ezra noticed "Okay, uh..." Ezra said, dumbfounded.

  
"Who are these guys?" The one known as Hunter asked.

  
"They're from the Rebellion." Crosshair said.

  
"Oh. Well, we'll talk later. You might've noticed, we gotta deal with some Imperials." Hunter said.

  
"Trap 3B isn't functional, I need some time to fix it." The technician Tech said.

  
"I can help with that; I work with technology." Sabine piped up.

  
"Excellent, let's get to work then." Tech said, grabbing a toolbag and heading out the door, Sabine following him.

  
"So do you wanna get in on it?" Hunter asked, the rest waiting for a reply.

  
"My pleasure." Ezra said, cracking his knuckles.

  
"Alright, grab a weapon and let's go." Hunter said, removing a lid from a box and revealing several blasters and one rocket launcher.

  
"Actually, I'm all set." Ezra said, showing them his lightsaber.

  
"Oh a Jedi. This'll be easier for us than we thought." Hunter said.

  
\---

  
Crosshair and Ezra sat in the bushes as they saw two stormtroopers passing by. Crosshair had his gun aiming at them, then he took two quick shots and both troops fell dead.

  
"Nice!" Ezra whispered.

  
"Let's move." Crosshair said as he jumped and rolled across the area and hid in some bigger bushes. Ezra simply sneaked across.

  
This time, five troopers came patrolling the area, lights on their guns activated.

  
"If anything moves, blast it." The trooper commander said.

  
 _'I bet they won't even hit it.'_ Crosshair thought.

  
The five troopers passed them, then Ezra quietly asked, "Why didn't we do anything?"

  
"Watch." Crosshair replied, barely moving any muscles on his face.

  
Ezra kept looking, then saw as all five were captured in a net and electrocuted.

  
"Man, how far ahead are you guys?" Ezra asked.

  
"To be honest, I don't even know." Crosshair replied.

  
\---  
Three troopers were walking down a different path for a while, before coming to an open space surounded by trees. They walked forward, spreading out a little bit, and searched the area. One of them stepped on a small peg, which released from the ground and was pulled into the bushes. It got the three troopers' attentions. Seconds later, they heard rustling within the trees, making them point their blasters in every direction. One moment later, they got scared, seeing a dead stormtrooper hanging from a rope on one leg.

  
"What the?" One trooper exclaimed. Their attention was turned away from Wrecker, who -in full armor- sneaked up to them, stood straight up, and towered above them. The troopers noticed his shadow and turned, and Wrecker knocked them all out. Once finished, he threw the bodies into a net, which catapulted them into the ocean.

  
\---

  
The Imperial patrol on the beach saw the three troopers flying in the air and landing in the water. The leader looked to his patrol, nodded his head in the direction of the forest, and he went on. There was an entire group and an exclusive, upgraded, Imperial-looking TX-130 _Saber_ -Class Fighter Tank.

  
The squad moved on, hovering by the unnoticed Crosshair and Ezra. Once they moved on, Crosshair and Ezra followed behind the tank until they came across a tree. Once they reached the tree, Crosshair jumped up and grabbed a branch, then quickly pulled himself up. Ezra simply jumped up onto the branch. Luckily, the Imperials didn't hear them due to the tank's noise. They jumped to higher branches and remained hidden.

  
\---

  
Hunter remained camouflaged near the base. Once he got sight of the tank, he commed Wrecker. "Wrecker, you're up. There's a tank."

  
\---

  
The stormtrooper looking outside from the top of the tank, saw as the squad in front of him was rapidly shot down. "What?" Just then, the tank stopped moving.

"Who's there?" The trooper asked. He looked behind the tank and saw Wrecker holding it in place. Wrecker started grunting and lifting the tank into the air slowly.

He turned around and smashed it onto the ground. He repeated the process until the tank was frail; then with a scream, he ripped the tank apart, then smashed the pieces until there were only broken bits of the tank all over.

  
"That's unbelievable!" Ezra said, obviously in shock.

  
"You should've seen him lift a Republic Gunship." Crosshair replied.

  
"He did what?" Ezra asked.

  
"He's possibly the strongest being in the galaxy."

  
"I don't think so. Through the force, people can accomplish a lot more." Ezra said right before spacing out.

  
"Like what?"

  
"Like sensing if there's a sith nearby." Ezra said, jumping down.

  
"Kid, what are you doing?"

  
"I gotta take care of this." Ezra said before running off.

  
\---

  
Ezra ran through the forest, hiding behind the bushes when he was near the beach. He saw a strangely clothed and armored figure standing with a stormtrooper general. The inquisitor was seemingly talking to him, then he stopped and seemed to sense Ezra. Ezra was slowly stepping away when the inquisitor jolted a finger in his direction, then Ezra ran.

  
"A Jedi is here." The Inquisitor said.

  
"A Jedi is here?" The general asked, concerned.

  
"Is there an echo around here? Yes, that's what I said. Ever seen a Jedi before?" The Inquisitor asked.

  
"No sir. I thought they were extinct." The general replied.

  
"Well, always keep you expectations low. That's the thing about the galaxy, you never know what's in it, or what's going to be left." The Inquisitor said, walking off into the forest.

  
\---

  
"Guys!" Ezra whispered loudly, "There's a sith here. We need to move." Everyone came out of the bushes and gathered around. "A sith is here, and I'm pretty sure we all can't hold off both him _and_ the Imperials here."

  
"So what're you thinking?" Sabine asked.

  
"You guys," Ezra gestured to the Bad Batch, "Head to our ship. Wait there for me and Sabine. We'll hold off the Inquisitor as long as we can. If we're not there in three minutes, fly off towards us and we'll jump on."

  
"Sounds good to me." Hunter said.

  
"Not to me." Wrecker said.

  
"Why not?" Ezra asked.

  
"He has a fear of heights." Tech said.

  
"Still?" Hunter asked, surprised. "I'd have thought you would've gotten over it by now."

  
"Guys, we don't have time for this. Our ship is at these coordinates." Ezra said, holding up a holodisc with a map leading to their ship. Hunter took it and ran off in the direction of the ship, the rest of the batch following. Once out of sight, Ezra and Sabine turned around to spot the Inquisitor.

  
"Have you ever faced one of them head-on before?" Sabine asked.

  
"Not really, but yes. On that Clone Wars medical station, remember?" Ezra replied. "I don't have that much experience in lightsaber combat."

  
"Neither have I, so what are our chances of surviving?" Sabine asked.

  
"I'm not sure." Ezra said, turning to face her. "We've gotten this far, but this might be our last fight." Ezra said. They slowly embraced each other in a hug, then separated when Ezra sensed the Inquisitor. Ezra ignited his lightsaber, Sabine unholstered her blasters and prepared for possibly the biggest fight of their lives.

  
"Well, I thought I'd _never_ see any of _you_ guys again." Ezra said, hiding his fear.

  
"I could say the same, Jedi." The Inquisitor said, igniting his double-bladed, spinning lightsaber. "Oh and a _Mandalorian_ , huh? This should be interesting."

  
"Don't be afraid to be savage against him." Ezra whispered to Sabine, who grinned.

  
Ezra spun his lightsaber around his hand a few times before charging at the Inquisitor. Ezra swung everywhere, from every direction. The Inquisitor could only block. Ezra then used the force to push him over to Sabine, who shot at the Inquisitor's back. The bolts did leave marks on him, but didn't penetrate the armor.

  
"We're up against a sith with strong armor." Sabine said as Ezra went back to her side.

  
The Inquisitor got back up on his feet, lifted his head and glared at the pair.

  
"Why didn't you use the darksaber?" Ezra whispered.

 

"I'm still more used to using my blasters." Sabine whispered back.

  
"My turn." The Inquisitor yelled, then lunged forward, retaliating Ezra's action. Sabine then ignited her darksaber and swung down on the sith. The sith swiftly moved so his lightsaber was being held down by both Ezra and Sabine's blades. The Inquisitor started spinning his blades and knocked theirs away. Then he did a spin-flip in the air, and landed in front of Sabine. He swung his rotating blades at her, and she could only move backwards to survive. Sabine then smirked as she got an idea. She dove her blade forward and sliced the Inquisitor's hilt in half. Ezra forced the Inquisitor to his knees.

  
"Why are you here?" Ezra asked.

  
"Are you of Phoenix Squadron?"

 

"Yes. Why- _why are you here_?"

  
"I am after Bando Roscoe." The Inquisitor looked around and saw no Imperials.

  
"I saw you come in with a squad of Imperials. Where are the rest?"

  
"I lead them off track so they wouldn't find you. I was looking to defect from the Empire with Bando, but apparently he decided to go without me."

  
"We can't trust him." Sabine said.

  
"Maybe we can, he didn't say he wanted to defect to the rebellion." Ezra replied. "How many more Inquisitors are there?"

  
"There's never a specific number, but there's a **_lot_ ** of us."

  
"Mhm." Ezra hummed, cuffing the Inquisitor.

  
"How long did you have tho-where did you keep them?" Sabine asked, shocked.

  
"Not important." Ezra replied, pulling up his comm and contacting the Bad Batch. "Our fight ended earlier than we thought. We're ready."

  
"Wait!" The Inquisitor called. "My division will see you." He activated his wrist comm and said to the General, "The rebels are on the far side of the island. Go there now."

  
" _Yes_ , _sir_."

  
"Wait a moment and they won't see us taking off."

  
"Why are you so willing to help us? This has suspiciously happened often and I'd like to know why." Sabine said.

  
"The revolt. It didn't start just on Lothal. The Empire is at war with itself. But not for long. Soon, it will all be put to an end, and Phoenix Squadron will be to blame."

  
. . .

  
"Well that's a nice story, you can tell our authorities when we get back."

  
"I have no plans on joining your rebellion; just want to live the life I originally had."

  
"We're not going to force you, we just need you to tell them any useful things, then we'll let you go."

  
"Why don't you just tell them?"

  
"Because I'm not always the best at remembering what other people say."

  
"Take his word for it." Sabine piped in.

  
"Ha ha." Ezra said sarcastically as their ship came into view. "Let's go."

  
They hopped aboard as the ship lowered and they quickly lifted off.

  
"Careful with the controls." Ezra called out.

  
"Sorry about that." A bald person called from the controls.

  
"Who are you?" Ezra asked as he sat in the copilot's seat.

  
"First off, the reason you didn't see me around is because I explore and hunt. My name is Echo. CT-21-0408 as Clones referred to me."

  
"Wow. Do you guys know if there are any other clones around?" Ezra asked.

  
"Nope. Not really. We've been on our own for over a decade." Echo said, suddenly looking over at Ezra and asking, "Would you like to take over, sir?"

  
"Oh, yeah. Thanks." Ezra replied, sitting down in the pilot's seat and taking control.

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

  
Chapter 6 **(Chapter 15)**

  
"What is an _Inquisitor_ doing here?" Kanan asked.

  
"I was planning on defecting with Bando Roscoe, but since he did first, I had to stick around with the Empire longer. I simply want to live a normal life." The Inquisitor answered.

  
"There you go. And we were going to ask him some important questions." Ezra said.

  
"What does _he_ have to tell _us_?" Kanan asked.

  
"More of what you know about." The Inquisitor replied. "More of _him_." With that, Kanan knew who he was talking about.

  
"Ezra, this isn't the best time; we're almost done preparing to leave for Hoth, and to bring an Inquisitor of all people isn't very comforting." Kanan said, leaning down to Ezra.

  
"He's offering to help, Kanan. Let's interrogate him quickly, here and now, then set him free as I promised him." Ezra said.

  
"Not a half-bad idea considering our tightened schedule." Kanan replied. "What can you tell us?"

  
"Bando Roscoe is not the only one of himself. I'm aware you encountered a clone before, but a rumor is spreading that there may be more on the way. Word of the revolt on Lothal got out and the Empire is at war with some of itself."

  
"Anything else?" Kanan asked.

  
The Inquisitor looked around, then leaned in and whispered, "I sent Hondo to your aid with the Padawan Jedi. Here's some unknown truth about me, I joined the Empire as an Inquisitor to act as a mole for a short term to get any useful information to the rebellion. Despite _that_ , I'm not interested in joining."

  
"At least let us know who you are." Kanan said.

  
"Very well." The Inquisitor removed his helmet and revealed his adult face. He had a small scar across the left side of his mouth and had short black hair. "Name's Geoff Morlev."

  
"Thank you for your help. Ezra, you have a promise to keep." Kanan said. Ezra nodded then led him to an extra ship the rebellion had. "This ship's pilot died a while back, so no one will be using it. You can get where you desire with this." Ezra said, removing the cuffs.

  
"Thank you." Geoff said, stepping into the A-Wing, then he stopped. "Hold on! Wait! Where is Bando?"

  
"Oh snap! Forgot! I'll get him." Ezra said, running off. Geoff leaned against the ship until Ezra returned with Bando. Once Bando saw Geoff, he stopped cold in his tracks. He looked at Ezra, who nodded.

  
Bando ran up to Geoff, side-hugging him. "Geoff! What've you been doing?" Bando asked, excited.

  
"Nuh-uh. What've _you_ been doing? _We_ were going to defect together." Geoff replied, reciprocating Bando's excitement, while using some seriousness in his tone.  
"Sorry about that, complications happened. I had to act as though I didn't want to and it took longer than usual to get out. I was lucky to defect when I did. I didn't have time to contact you." Bando explained.

  
Ezra, Kanan, and Hera stood by, amused, watching Bando talk to his friend.

  
"I have never seen him so happy." Hera said, smiling at the sight.

  
"I haven't seen him." Kanan said.

  
"Speaking from experience, I know how it feels to reconnect with your past like that." Ezra said, copying Hera's expression.

  
Moments of happiness went by. Hera, Kanan, and Ezra talking about the new side of Bando they were seeing, Bando and Geoff catching up with each other. But the moment ended when Bando told Geoff that he had joined the rebellion, and Geoff realized that he wouldn't be seeing Bando again for a while. They parted ways and Bando watched Geoff take off before returning to the Ghost crew.

  
Ezra, Kanan, and Hera were smiling at Bando, who asked "What?" before they turned away.

  
"Okay, we have one last mission before we reunite with the rebellion on Hoth. Bando, you're in on this one. It's going to get tough." Hera said.

  
"Alright. This is gonna be good." Bando said.

  
"Although, we will have some more allies, and that will also be 'tough.' " Hera said.

  
"What do you mean?" Bando asked.

  
"Captain Syndulla, we're ready." A voice called from behind, and there came approaching the rest of Clan Wren, and Sabine beside them. Bando glared sharply at them from under his helmet, then turned to Hera, his expression unchanging.

  
"Bando, as much as you disagree, I need you to calm down before you explode." Kanan said.

  
Just then, Bando used some dark-force to create a small crater under his feet, showing his emotions. " ** _No_**!"

  
"Bando, it's obvious you know about Mandalorians. Hear me out. These guys are with us. W-"

  
"At what cost? What are they doing this for?" Bando asked, temper rising.

  
"You know about Mandalorians, and what they can do. That's what'll make them the perfect allies.

  
"Perfect allies. Pfft." Bando muttered. "They're the most savage race of people in existence."

  
"Then you should've seen yourself a few weeks ago." Ezra said, earning a glare from Bando, who slowly approached him. Kanan stepped in front of Ezra before anything could happen.

  
"Kid, you need to tell us all about why you seem to hate these guys." Kanan said.

  
"I don't _need_ to tell _you_ **_anything_**." Bando growled, raising a finger.

  
"But you will." Kanan said, retaliating with a glare from under his mask, calming Bando down only slightly.

  
...

  
*sigh*

  
"They're why I am who I am." Bando growled, clenching his fists.

  
"What do you mean?" Hera asked. Bando turned to her and tapped his helmet.

  
"They're why I have to wear this a lot." Bando said. He looked around, then down, then sighed. He placed his hands on the side of his helmet and pressed a button on each side with his thumbs. Bits of his helmet ejected, allowing him to remove the helmet slowly. Everyone let out a loud gasp. Making sense of things, Sabine actually let out a tear.

  
They saw the tubes coming from his mask and entering his nose. He then turned to the Mandalorians, frowning. He approached them and stopped right in front of them.

  
"You see what your people did?" He asked. They were speechless. "I asked you a question." The Mandos just nodded slowly.

  
"Face what people of your kind did. You're hopefully temporarily allies with this mess you made." Bando said, the Mandos still speechless. "What?" Bando asked, confused.

  
"It's you." The lead Mandalorian said.

  
"What? What's me?" Bando asked.

  
"You-you're the legend. The Mando-Demon." The leader replied.

  
"Excuse me? Demon?" Bando asked, a little offended.

  
"That's what you were referred to as because the people who told the stories were people who actually thought you _were_ one. Especially since they said you slaughtered every Mandalorian you encountered, and that was more than two battalions-worth."

  
Everyone else was shocked to hear this information, not to mention Sabine.

  
"Like I said, it's because of _your_ people. Bando said, putting his helmet back on so he could breathe properly. "And know that I wasn't alone in doing so. Their blood isn't only on my hands." A moment of silence passed.

  
"Is there anything we can do to help make up for it?"

  
It was then Bando's turn to be shocked. He had never heard a Mandalorian be caring in any way towards someone else. He stepped away, then flew off to another side of the base.

  
"He's gonna need time to think." Hera said.

  
\---

  
Bando was leaning on a rail, looking off to the sky. Then, Sabine came up behind him.

  
"Is it true?" Sabine asked. Bando turned his head slightly.

  
"What I did? Yes; I'm not ashamed." Bando replied, facing the sky again. "And I told you why."

  
"I know. I know." Sabine responded.

  
"What're you here for?" Bando asked.

  
"To let you know you're not the only one Mandalorians turned their backs on." Sabine answered.

  
Bando didn't move; just guessed, "I assume because you decided to join the Rebellion."

  
"Yes. My _family_ wasn't on my side either." Sabine said.

  
Sabine sighed, then said, "You're with the Rebellion now. You need to accept changes. I had to, and it was so hard for me. And you need to know that when it comes to us, we're always there for each other. We're here for you, whether you like it or not."

  
Bando turned his head and said, "That wasn't very convincing, but I'll give you credit for trying. There's more to why you're here isn't there?"

  
Sabine then put her arm around his shoulder then said, "I'm sorry for what my people did." Then Sabine left. That gave Bando plenty to think about.

  
\---

  
"We're ready to go. Where's Bando?" Hera asked.

  
"Here." Bando called, walking to the group.

  
"How are you feeling now?" Hera asked, putting a hand on Bando's shoulder.

  
"I'll answer, but first: what's with the constant hand-on-shoulder thing? You guys pick your noses a lot, or something? It's happened to me, like three times already." Bando exclaimed, brushing off the spot on his shoulder.

  
"Um-"

  
"I'm doing fine now. I will only tolerate them, same as usual." Bando said hesitantly, to which Sabine smiled. Bando noticed and pointed, "Get that smirk off your face." Sabine just put her hands up in defense.

  
"Good. Let's go. We have some answers to receive." Hera said.

  
"What?" Bando asked.

  
"Your friend Geoff said that there might be more of you being made, so we're going to find out more about that before it might be too late." Hera said.

  
"If it's true?" Bando asked.

  
"We're going to hunt them down and destory them."

  
"And that's why we have them?" Bando asked, pointing to the Mandalorians.

  
"For this mission, they're helping us. We haven't told them of any further updates on what they're going to be doing afterwards."

  
"Mhm. Well _I'm_ ready." Bando said.

  
"Very good."


	16. Chapter 16

  
Chapter 7 **(Chapter 16)**

  
Rex came around and saw the new additions to the team. He went by Ezra, who was boarding the Ghost for the mission, and asked, "Who do we got?"

  
"Not much, but very, _very_ good soldiers. I think you'll be familiar with them." Ezra said, smiling. Then he signalled the Bad Batch to come over. He saw Wrecker giving Crosshair a knoogie; Rex saw them too and his eyes widened.

  
"They call themselves the Bad Batch." Ezra said. The Bad Batch saw Rex, ran over, and shook hands with him.

  
"Good to see you alive and well, Rex." Hunter said.

  
"I could say the same." Rex replied.

  
"Yeah. Wrecker hasn't lost it yet, so that's a good sign." Crosshair said, in which Wrecker lightly punched him.

  
"What about Wolffe and Gregor?" Hunter asked.

  
"Oh they're fine. They didn't join the rebellion, though. I contact them from time to time."

  
"Captain?" Another clone voice called. Rex faced it. "Captain Rex?" It was Echo, who then let out a laugh then ran over.

  
"Echo?! Ha ha. How are you still alive?" Rex exclaimed, giving Echo a side-hug.

  
"Well it wasn't hard. Kashyyyk isn't that bad." Echo replied.

  
"Well it's nice to see you guys catching up, but we got a mission right now." Ezra said.

  
"Right. We'll catch up later. As of now, we have a mission briefing to attend to." Rex said as they boarded the Ghost.

  
\---

  
The Ghost zipped through hyperspace, and due to the extended team, Hera had everyone meet in the cargo bay for the mission briefing. Chopper came up and pulled up a hologram of the lead star destroyer over Lothal.

  
"This is our target. Our mission is to find out if the Empire is making more of him." Hera said, pointing to Bando. "Now we're all that's available of the rebellion, so we're on our own here. But with the help we have, we shouldn't have much of a problem."

  
"Alright. What do we need to do?" Hunter asked.

  
"We'll split up into teams and have one Jedi lead each."

  
"What about me?" Bando asked. "I don't exactly _classify_ as a Jedi, but I'm like a Jedi."

  
Hera and Kanan "looked" at each other, then Hera said, "We're going to trust you. You can lead a team." Bando was a little shocked, but went along with it.

  
"Aang, were you able to repair the cloaking device?" Hera then asked.

  
"Eh, mostly. There's a small chance it won't work." Aang said.

  
"Well I can probably fix it up in a snap." Tech said.

  
"Probably? You can. You've done more complicated stuff before." Echo said.

  
"I'll give it a go." Tech said, getting up with Aang.

  
"Before you go, just know while Bando's team is getting the necessary information, the rest of us will have to occupy the rest of the Imperial forces there."

  
"Got it." Aang said as he and Tech walked off.

  
"Okay, we need to decide our teams before we get there." Hera said.

  
"I'll take Echo." Bando said. "He'll download the information and if we get caught, which most likely won't happen, they won't extract it from him. Not easily at least."

  
"Good idea." Hera said.

  
"I'll take Wrecker." Kanan said.

  
"I'll have Zeb." Ezra said.

  
\---

  
An Imperial officer approached the commander on the bridge of the lead star destroyer and informed, "Sir. The Emperor himself sent us a message."

  
"What? What did he say?" The commander asked eagerly, and scared.

  
"He said that we need to be reinforced for a soon-coming attack."

  
"Well then, get us reinforcements."

  
"Well, most of us are still involved in the revolt."

  
"It hasn't ended yet? Well it will soon. Did the Emperor say anything else?"

  
"I'm afraid not."

  
"Well, who's left on Lothal?"

  
"There may be enough."

  
"Get them then. For goodness sake, get anyone."

  
\---

  
"Well that should do it." Tech said.

  
"What'd you do?" Aang asked.

  
"You simply needed to replace the heat-sink and radiator. I hope you don't mind, but I added an extra shield projector to this also, so the... Ghost, you call it?... will have extra protection."

  
"That's cool. You've obviously got some stuff to teach me." Aang said.

  
"I bet I do." Tech replied.

  
"Well this should be fully functional. What do you say we give this another spin?" Aang suggested.

  
"let's do it." Tech said as they both pulled down the levers. The machine functioned differently, but properly. Sparks weren't spewing out of the machine like before. The machine was actually much neater.

  
"Well dang. I must say I'm impressed. Are you sure you only replaced the heat-sink and radiator?"

  
"Well no. I fixed the whole thing up wherever it needed it."

  
"Oh..." Aang was speechless. Echo had practically reinvented the whole thing in a matter of minutes. Added modifications too. _'Where does he keep his stuff?'_ "Well, good job." Aang finally said.

  
"Well thanks. I do what I do."

  
"No kidding."

  
\---

  
The Ghost's expanded crew had its teams. Bando picked Echo and Chopper, Aang picked Hunter and Hera, Ezra chose Zeb and Crosshair, and Kanan chose Wrecker and Sabine. They were all going over what they would be doing onboard the star destroyer. Hera and Kanan met up, Hera had an idea.

  
"We should have Sabine on Bando's team. Maybe it'll be nice for them to bond a little bit. You heard of his feelings of Mandalorians, so-"

  
"I see where you're going, and I agree. Bando!" Kanan called.

  
"What?" Bando replied.

  
"We're placing Sabine on your team so I'll have Chopper." Kanan said.

  
Bando didn't know what to say, though he had the same thoughts as Hera did. He reluctantly nooded.

  
"I sense hesitance within you; I know exactly how you feel. We don't exactly have time for a lesson, so I'm just going to point out that you said that you wanted Echo _instead_ of Chopper for important reasons, so this should work out."

  
"Yeah. Got it." Bando mumbled.

  
"We wish you good luck." Kanan said, placing his hand on Bando's shoulder.

  
"Oh my force! Again with the hand-on-shoulder thing!" Bando exclaimed.

  
\---

  
The Ghost exited hyperspace, cloaked, running up to the lead star destroyer. They entered the docking bay with ease, but there were still plenty of Imperials on the ground. Ezra quickly got an idea.

  
"Hera, land the ship." He said.

  
"Okay, but you know they'll know we're here." Hera said, landing the ship. The sound was heard and the Imperials were confused.

  
"We were informed that the rebels were using a cloaking device. Fire in that direction." An officer said, pointing in the direction outisde, where the Ghost was ahead of them.

  
"What now?" Hera asked.

  
"Lock the ship down." Ezra said.

  
Hera knew where he was going, and did so. Ezra then used the force to deactivate the shields inside the docking bay, and sent the Imperials there flying into space. Then he activated it again when the bay was empty.

  
"That worked." Hera said.

  
"I know."

  
"Get everyone and tell them they're clear." Hera said, uncloaking the Ghost and moving it forward to make way for the other freighter ship carrying the Mandalorians. Ezra commed the ship and gave them the all-clear. The ship boarded the docking bay and they unloaded and met in the bay.

  
"Everyone know what they have to do?" Kanan asked.

  
"Yes sir." They all replied.

  
"Good. May the force be with us."

 

**I was tired from a trip yesterday, so I couldn't upload then. I'm probably going to upload the next chapter tomorrow, also.**

 


	17. Chapter 17

I've been so wiped out recently. I should be getting back to my regular schedule now.

 

Chapter 8 **(Chapter 17)**

  
"So what we're going to do is keep everyone away from the lower levels. That's where Bando's going to be." Kanan reviewed.

  
"How do you plan on doing that? There are a lot of whatever-you-call-em here." Wrecker asked.

  
. . .

  
Kanan just grinned, "looking" at Wrecker.

  
"What?"

  
\---

  
" **Hey**! **Look at me**!" Wrecker called out to a pack of stormtroopers in a hallway.

  
The stormtroopers noticed, called "Hey!", then chased after him. Wrecker ran off, leading them down some hallways, and stopping them when they reached the hangar that Kanan was present in. Wrecker then started throwing giant pieces of metal at them, Kanan using the force to help.

  
It all ended, leaving one trooper alive and unharmed. Kanan walked over to the trooper. The trooper shot at him, but Kanan dodged it and used the force to keep him still. "I'm gonna need that outfit. Wrecker!" He called. Wrecker knocked the trooper out.

  
"Oh let me guess-"

  
"Yep." Kanan interrupted.

  
\---

  
Kanan, disguised as a stormtrooper, casually lead a cuffed Wrecker and a painted Chopper around. He reached an elevator and all three entered. Before the doors closed, an officer stepped in with them. Then the doors closed, and they started ascending.

  
. . .

  
"These might be a little more interesting with music." Kanan said, deepening his voice.

  
"Maybe so. Who's this?" The officer asked.

  
"A prisoner we caught on Lothal."

  
"Well. Quite a big guy isn't h-"

  
**SMACK**

  
Kanan swiftly looked over to Wrecker to scold him. But before he could say anything, Wrecker said, "I don't like being called that."

  
Kanan and Wrecker reached the detention level, met by some more stormtroopers.

  
"Caught a prisoner causing some trouble on Lothal." Kanan said as a stormtrooper came up and took him away.

  
As the stormtrooper and Wrecker reached the detention hall, the stormtrooper turned around and faced him. Ezra whispered, "Hey! It's me, Ezra Bridger. I'm obviously disguised. The plan is: I'm going to put you away until further notice. When the time is right, we're busting out of here."

  
"Where's the rest of your team?" Wrecker whispered back.

  
"They're close around." Ezra replied, casually pushing Wrecker into a cell.

  
"They don't even know who I am. I could get out without equipment." Wrecker said to himself. Just then, he got an idea. _'I'm supposed to divert troopers, right? So why not?'_ Then he charged against the door, denting it, and catching the Imperials' attention.

  
"We're going to need some backup on the detention level." The leader of the detention level commed another officer.

  
 _'Yes! Good thinking Wrecker.'_ Ezra thought, smirking to himself.

  
Meanwhile, Kanan got an idea of his own, going down the elevator. Once he exited, he spotted some troopers and a commander. 'Bingo!' Kanan thought. "Hey! There's rebel activity going on near the high levels of the ship." Kanan called, again, with his deepened voice, getting the Imperials to follow him.

  
\---

  
Aang, Hunter, and Hera busied themselves in another hallway, setting up traps for stormtroopers. They set a tiny lever with a string attached to it on the ground. They hid elsewhere so they wouldn't get caught in the mess. Stormtroopers came running around the corner, but got stuck in place.

  
"Oh I know this prank. _'Invisible tape wall.'_ " One of them said.

  
"Oh the rebels are here, alright." Another stormtrooper said as they used all their strength to break free. "Find them."

  
They stepped forward, and one of them stepped on the tiny lever. "Huh?" The lever was yanked away. "Uh oh." Then a blue wave emitted from 'nowhere' and they all started floating. Aang and Hera peeked out from a corner, while Hunter stayed back, and Aang, using a control panel, strapped around his chest, pulled the lever around, pushing the troopers around in the air.

  
"Well that worked." Hera exclaimed quietly, a bit surprised. "How'd you make this in time?"

  
"Tech made this. I made the control panel." Aang said, hiding the control panel and walking away. Just then, they heard footsteps coming from the direction they were going. They went back and hid in the same spot as another squad of stormtroopers came by and got stuck in the same trap. Aang stifled a laugh and picked the control panel back up and waved them around more, making them all bump into each other. The annoyed groans of the stormtroopers were nearly provoking all three rebels to laugh.

  
One of the stormtroopers spotted them and made his way over to them. He lifted his mask and revealed himself to be Kanan. Aang used the force to pull him out, then they all made a run for it.

  
\---

  
Wrecker had escaped the prison and occupied several stormtroopers at once. Wrecker ripped a thick chunk of wall from his cell to block the incoming fire. Ezra and another stormtrooper were firing and purposefully missing. Ezra's comlink activated and he picked it up. "Ezra. It's time."

  
Ezra looked over to the stormtrooper next to him and said, "Crosshair. It's time."

  
Crosshair then pulled up and activated a detonator switch, and blew up one particular door, which Zeb had purposefully been placed in. Zeb charged out and went by Wrecker. Wrecker nodded and placed the chink of metal on the ground. They both used all their strength to launch the chunk across the room. Before that happened, Ezra and Crosshair stepped into the elevator behind them and Ezra used the force to close the door. Afterwards, Ezra and Crosshair stepped out with their helmets off.

  
"Okay. _That_ was fun." Crosshair said.

  
"Well, if the plan went as successfully as planned, our havoc her caused maybe half the stormtroopers to be diverted away from Bando's team." Ezra announced.  
"What do we do now?" Zeb asked.

  
"Bando should be done by now. We go down, grab him, and get out." Ezra replied.

  
\---

  
Bando, Echo, and Sabine had only just gotten to where they needed to be when everyone else started going to get him. It was a dark room with several computers and some Imperials were working there. They looked up and saw Bando. "Sir! Wait.. Sir?"

  
_**BLAM BLAM BLAM** _

  
All Imperials in the room were shot down and Bando's team went to work. Echo plugged into a computer and started going through the information. Bando turned to Sabine, pointed to the door, and said, "Keep watch."

  
A minute passed, no stormtroopers came by, and Echo found nothing related to what they needed to know. "I got nothing, sir." Echo said.

  
"Next computer. If we're lucky, nothing cliche like finding the info in the last computer wi-”

  
“Got it.” Echo said. At that moment, mass amounts of blaster fire was heard outside.

  
“What’s going on?” Bando asked.

  
“We were found. And so were they.” Sabine replied, blasting forward.

  
“Who?”

  
“Stormtroopers, and our allies.”

  
“Okay. Echo, you got the info. You’re going to be guarded up to the hangar. Get going.” Bando then said to Echo.

  
“Yes sir.” Echo replied, carefully sneaking out behind some Mandalorians who led him away. Sabine went to the front line and blasted back at the stormtroopers.

  
Bando started to exit the room, then he saw the whole thing. He saw Mandalorians fighting and blasting forward. He looked around, the sound of blaster fire, dying groans, and the too-familiar aura of war overtaking his senses.

  
 _‘Bando!’_ An all-too-familiar-to-Bando voice came from nowhere.

  
“What?” Bando called out, confused. Suddenly, he saw flashes of a battleground in a Mandalorian war. Explosions and ruins everywhere. “What’s going on?” He asked as he was seeing scene changes.

  
 _‘Bando! Help us!’_ The same voice called out again. Bando collapsed to his knees.

  
“It can’t be! Where are you?” Bando asked, starting to sweat.

  
_‘Bando! Help us!’ ‘Bando! Help us!’ ‘Bando! Help us!’ ‘Bando! Help us!’_

  
Bando started clutching his head, screaming. Sabine noticed and dragged him behind the line. “Bando! Wake up! What’s going on?”

  
        Bando was oblivious to what was going on. He just saw a nearly dead and crippled Mandalorian on bits of a destroyed building saying, “You failed.” Then the one repeated sentence started going on again. Bando was looking around, and he was back on a battle ground, and there he saw Mandalorians battling who he knew as his former army of rebels, and they were all dying. The Mandalorians killed them. Bando was overwhelmed with the sudden flashbacks and all of a sudden, he woke, screamed in mental pain, and unleashed a huge electric force-repulse. Everyone was pushed back, shocked. Bando fell down, and passed out.

  
        Luckily, Sabine and the other Mandalorians regained consciousness before the stormtroopers **_((Author’s Note: Because Mandalorians wear some of the strongest armor in existence, made of Mandalorian iron; whereas stormtrooper armor isn’t very strong at all, so a lightning repulse would have more of an effect on stormtroopers.))_**. Sabine then regained her strength and activated her jetpack and flew off, carrying Bando with her, the other Mandalorians following her action.

They soon caught up to the Mandalorians with Echo.

  
“What’s the hurry?” One of them asked.

  
“We need to assist him. I don’t really know anything else about what happened to him. Hurry.” Sabine replied before they all sped up and entered the hangar bay and Sabine got Bando in the Ghost with Echo, and the other Mandos returned to their transporter. Soon afterwards, the rest of the Ghost crew appeared and sped across the bay. “What’s _your_ hurry?” Sabine asked.

  
“They’re onto us. We gotta go.” Kanan replied.

  
“Yeah that’s probably best.” Sabine replied. Just then, several stormtroopers came around in the bay and started firing in.

  
“Hera, better hurry.” Aang said.

  
“I got it.” Hera said, zipping up to the cockpit. Echo plugged into a hole and started uploading the knowledge he gained into the Ghost's reocrds. Then, the stormtroopers came awfully close as the Ghost started lifting off. One of the stormtroopers took notice of Echo and focused on him...

  
_**BLAM...** _

  
_**CLUNK** _

  
        " ** _NOOOOOOO_**!" The Bad Batch screamed, after their friend fell to the ground, and started raining death down upon the stormtroopers. Echo reached up and pressed the button, finally uploading the secret he downloaded, then fell down. The Ghost closed its cargo bay doors and drifted off into space. The Bad Batch, as well as Ezra and Sabine, mourned their loss. Kanan stepped up and put a hand on Hunter's shoulder. Before he said anything, he looked over to see if Bando was conscious yet, turned back, then said, "He died for the rebellion. We will see to it he gets honored well."

  
\---

  
“He fell to his knees, clutched his head and started screaming. He _was_ conscious when _that_ happened.” Sabine explained.

  
“What _else_ happened?” Kanan asked with concern spreading all over his face and tone.

  
“He outstretched his arms, and lightning came from his hands, pushing everything away.” Sabine answered.

  
Kanan thought for a moment, before finishing, “Thanks. I’ll talk to him later.” Then Sabine exited the cockpit.

  
Sabine then entered the medical bay, where Bando lay on a bed, unconscious. Hera was tending to him.

  
"This is... confusing." Hera said.

  
"What?" Sabine asked.

  
"He's not exactly, _unconscious_." Hera said, then continued, "Not in a coma either. More like asleep. There's nothing physically wrong with him. He's actually, alright."

  
"He's asleep?"

  
"Pretty much. But not exactly." Hera let out a small laugh, "I'm not as good as explaining stuff like this as Kanan is. All we can do is hope he wakes up soon."  
"Well it's convenient you say that now." Bando suddenly spoke up, scaring Hera and Sabine.

  
"Okay, Kanan said he wanted to talk to him." Sabine told Hera.

  
"Okay, I'll get him." Hera said, leaving the room.

  
"Sometimes, flashbacks happen at the worst times." Bando said.

  
"It's never happened to me before, but I understand."

  
"If it wasn't for you, I would have been dead meat for the Empire... Thank you... Sabine Wren." Bando said, suddenly making Sabine smile; he took notice of that and said, "Well that's not something you see a Mandalorian do every day. I guess you really _are_ different." Bando stopped as he saw Sabine's lingering smile. "Don't rub it in."

  
\---

  
The medbay, now temporarily empty of visitors, was entered by Kanan.

  
"Mind if I sit down?" Kanan asked and sensed that Bando nodded. He sat down, silent for a moment, then asked, "What was going on inside your head during _that_ moment?"

  
"Just flashbacks."

  
"Were flashbacks what caused you to pass out?" Kanan asked, very well knowing the answer.

  
"No. Afterwards, they caused me to spaz out and create a huge force-repulse, and that made me pass out."

  
"So the use of so much energy made you pass out."

  
"Well, no. It wasn't that much. It was also the pressure I was experiencing. It, for some bizzare reason, overloaded my brain."

  
"May I ask what you-"

  
"No."

  
Kanan took a few moments to consider what to do next. Push on? Or respect his decision? He would usually push on, because he knew that alone, Bando couldn't get over the stuff he was going through. But this was Bando he was talking to. It just may be too personal for Bando to be comfortable with talking about. With that being thought about, Kanan stood up and left, leaving Bando to do some thinking.

  
Bando closed his eyes and focused on the images he saw, much to his pain, he too needed to know what went on. The images flashed in his head again, and he started shaking around. He was conscious enough to be able to snap out of it. Then it clicked to him. "The Mandalorians." He mumbled. He hadn't seen a lot of them in action since 'The Reckoning.'... _'I'm going to have to talk to some of them. But first, I'll have to see what... Echo... downloaded.'_

  
_\---_

  
The Ghost rendezvoused with the rest of the fleet on possibly the coldest system in the galaxy. Hoth. The Ghost docked on the ground, and to everyone's luck and surprise, no blizzard was active. The ships were all landed by a hill, which was discovered to be a cave. As the Ghost crew exited the Ghost, Bando took a card-like computer chip, which contained the information thy sought, from the Ghost. They entered the cave and saw soldiers active, chopping away at the walls to make more room, suitable for a base.

  
"Exc-c-cuse me, where m-might Senator Mon Mothma b-be?" Hera asked, shivering.

  
"She's onboard the command vessel. She's actually been waiting for you." A well-fit-for-cold rebel replied. The Ghost crew quickly scurried aboard the command vessel to meet with her. They met in the rebellion senate room.

  
"Glad to see you all in one piece. How did the mission fare?" Mon Mothma asked.

  
"It went well. With some speed bumps though, we got the necessary information." Hera said as Bando handed the chip over.

  
"Excellent. We shall have a gathering to discuss our future preceedings." Mothma said.

  
\---

  
All rebel militia gathered in the senate room for the above-said discussion.

  
"Dear rebels, we have successfully obtained information, that will help us, from the Empire." Mothma said, holding up the computer chip. "Whatever this may hold, pray you will be ready for what comes ahead." She said, inserting the chip into the holoprojector in the middle of the room. Then, the results of the Ghost crew's intense mission appeared before everyone's eyes.

  
. . .

  
"They're _making_ more of me." Bando said, a little scared.

  
"Says here they're all prepared for field missions. They're just waiting for the right time to strike." Sabine read.

  
"That hardly makes sense. They're so desparate to destroy us, why don't they just unleash all of them upon us now?" Kanan asked.

  
. . .

  
. . .

  
"They're idiots." Bando said.

  
"Agreed." Everyone else said.

  
. . .

  
"What are we going to do now?" Ezra asked.

  
"Don't you worry about that Ezra. If they're as idiotic as they seem to be. We can destroy all of them at once, when we find out where they are." Bando said.

  
"But for now, Bad Batch," Mothma said, catching their attention, "Kanan informed me of your loss, and we're deeply sorrowed. And we've decided to give him one of the highest honors acheivable." Mothma said, the batch eagerly waiting her statement. "This base is to be named after him, in honor of his service."

  
"Echo Base."

 


	18. Chapter 18

  
Chapter 9 **(Chapter 18)**

  
"Mandos! Might I speak to you for a moment?" Bando asked, approaching the Mandalorian squad. They turned around to pay attention. "I blacked out during the end of our mission, because of some flashbacks I had. I hadn't had any experience like that in my life before, but it happened right there and then, with all of you there. I just need some answers."

  
"What do you want to know?"

  
"I wasn't alone in attempting to take down the Mandalorian rule years ago, because I had a team. What I want to know is which of you might be related to any of them."

  
"Related?"

  
"Yes. You, the leader, I will ask: who was your father?"

  
"Dexen Josto. He was one of the strongest of Mandalorian militia."

  
"He was, indeed."

  
"You knew _him_?"

  
"Yes. Not only did I know him. He was my best friend, and second-in-command in my group of rebels."

  
"That's where he went when he said he had some secret business to attend? He went with you!"

  
"Yes. I had him do that so you wouldn't want to get involved in anything. Your father, Dexen, agreed with it."

  
"What?!"

  
"We all have secrets to keep for the right reasons. Some, hardly understandable, but right reasons."

  
"W-W... How did... how did-?"

  
"He died peacefully. He died, saving Mandalore. Though he, my best friend, was killed by Mandalorians, he was able to save the day." Bando said, resisting a sniffle.

  
"What about the others?"

  
"?"

  
"The rest of your team."

  
Bando turned and clenched his fists. " _ **SLAUGHTERED**_!"

  
"Who were they?"

  
. . .  
. . .

  
"Urik Jerikko, Kole Anin, Thraken Fah, Osto Vulen, Alister Adoug, and Moda Varga."

  
"I know all those last names." The leader said as he turned to the other troops. "They're all fathers of some of us."

  
"They were all Clan Wren?"

  
"Yes, apparently."

  
. . .

  
"Well, I believe we will be good allies in the future."

  
"We were planning on returning home."

  
"Oh, I forgot. Hera didn't inform you of anything on what you were going to do after the mission we just had... So... you asked if there was anything you could do to repay me for what your kind did? You all should stay so those, whose fathers died saving Mandalore, could catch up, and help the rebellion win the fight against the Empire. This would be a decent compensation."

  
"Well... Alright. I'll have to inform Mistress Wren that we'll be staying for a while."

  
"Excellent."

  
"We are sorry for what happened to you."

  
Bando froze in his tracks for a few moments; then, realizing he should maybe get used to softer Mandalorians, turned and nodded his head, then walked off.

  
\---

  
Bando happened to walk by Ezra, who was having a conversation with the Bad Batch. Bando stopped once he heard what the conversation was about. "What? Why are you leaving already?"

  
"We were hiding partially because we were afraid of losing someone, and that's what happened. We can't take losing another." Hunter said.

  
"We honored Echo because of the sacrifice he took to save the rebellion, it's not like he's completely gone. Stay with us and _fight_ for _him_." Ezra said.

  
"And lose another? We can't." Wrecker said.

  
"I'm siding with Ezra on this. You need to stay and _fight_ with us." Bando said. "And avenge Echo."

  
"We can avenge him on Kashyyyk." Crosshair replied.

  
"Not if they keep sending Inquisitors. If you go back, you'll die." Ezra said.

  
"But we can't stay here either." Tech said.

  
"Just because you don't want to lose anyone else. News flash: Everyone loses something in a war, and _we_ lose _everything_ when we're _lost_." Bando said.

  
"You're going to have to adapt to losing things, or you're not going to go very far." Ezra said, hoping he and Bando had convinced them.

  
"Well we're not going to risk losing anyone else. We're not going back there, and we're not staying here." Hunter said.

  
"Well what else is there for you to do? The Empire will hunt you down and kill you all."

  
"At least we'll die beside each other, at the same time." Crosshair said.

  
"Now, we request a ship for our departure." Hunter said.

  
Ezra let out a sad sigh, then quietly said, "We don't have any missions, so far, so we _might_ be able to lend you a ride in a ship."

  
"What's going on?" Hera asked, conveniently walking by.

  
"They're leaving." Bando answered.

  
"Leaving?! You just got here-"

  
"It's because they lost Echo and they don't want to lose anything else." Ezra said. "And you said you'd like to join the fight against the Empire." Ezra then reminded Crosshair.

  
"We stood our ground against much of the Empire, and we all managed to stay alive. We joined because we thought it could stay that way." Crosshair replied.

  
. . .

  
"How long were you guys involved in the Clone Wars?" Hera asked, curiously.

  
"Over a year."

  
"And how much do you know about the true nature of war?"

  
. . .

  
"People do die, and being a part of the war, we learn to live with it, and fight in the name of those who we've lost."

  
"Echo would want you to keep fighting." Ezra piped in.

  
"He'd want us to survive and live long lives." Hunter disagreed.

  
. . .

  
"Very well. We'll take you somewhere safe." Hera said, escorting them to the rebel authorities.

  
. . .

  
"They're going to come back at the last second, I know it." Bando said.

  
"Last second?" Ezra wondered.

  
"If we're in danger on a mission, they're going to come in and save us." Bando specified.

  
"Oh."

  
. . .

  
"How do you know?"

  
"Well, it's one of my perks."

  
Kanan stepped up to the group, specifically to Bando, then said, "Bando, a word?" Bando nodded and they started walking through the base. "Through the past few days, I've seen development grow within you faster than I've ever seen a Womp Rat run, and I've got to say I'm impressed."

  
"Um... you lost me with Womp Rats."

  
"You've quickly gotten over things many people can only get over in a lifetime. You've overcome a lot that's come your way, and that's the mark of a rebel."

  
Bando then stopped. "Where are you going with this?"

  
Kanan stopped in front of him, turned to face him, then said, "Hera and I have been talking, and we were wondering if you would like to become an official member of the Ghost crew."

  
For once, Bando was truly speechless.

  
. . .

  
And happy.

 


	19. Chapter 19

The Dark Side Or The Light? Part 3 (Final Part)

  
Chapter 1 (Chapter 19)

  
~~Time Skip~~

  
A little more than two years have passed since Bando became an official member of the Ghost crew. Things had gone somewhat smoothly for them, but when it _wasn't_ smooth, there were some serious speedbumps. Bando learned much about being a rebel, and grew in character and maturity. He learned to frogive more easily, but still had his seemingly permanent anger problems that would pop up. He had become quite close to each member of the Ghost crew.

  
The rebellion had been settled on Hoth for a while, and they had been successful at evading the Empire. They got masses of new recruits, expanding the rebellion. Bren Derlin was accepted and was quite the leader. Things were going brightly for the rebellion.

  
\---

  
Bando was summoned to the command deck of the command ship on Hoth. He quickly arrived there, ready to receive whatever news they had for him. Once he reached the command deck, he was met by Hera, Mon Mothma, and General Dodonna.

  
"You guys summoned me?" Bando asked.

  
"We did." Mothma replied.

  
"Good. Zeb wasn't pranking me." Bando mumbled.

  
"We've noticed a rise in the rate of victories we've had ever since you joined us, especially your test missions, and we must say we're greatly impressed." Hera said.

"You've been a rebel for a little over two years, and you've acted like you were _born_ a rebel." Bando hung his head a little bit, some sadness along with a flashback of his past actually _being_ a rebel.

  
"Bando?" Hera called, calmly.

  
"Sorry. You were saying?" Bando pushed on.

  
"We're impressed with your skill and acceptance to learn and adapt, and we've decided to promote you to Colonel." General Dodonna answered.

  
"Eh?" Bando asked, sarcastically.

  
"We're serious." Hera said, sternly.

  
"Colonel?! Wow! Thank you all." Bando said, running to leave the room, then he stopped and ran back. "Usually, when there's a promotion, there's something more."  
"You're right. We've gotten a notification of a mysterious person locked away in a citadel tower, and we want you, and a team of your choice, to break in, take this person, and return to us." Hera said.

  
"My specialty. Don't worry, I'll try not to blow this one up." Bando said with a smug grin on, again, his unseeable face. He turned to leave, then turned back again.

"Would you like some extra allies, too? Or would that be too unnecessary?"

  
Hera laughed. "Just go do what you do."

  
" _Alright_! I won't let you down." Bando finally said before leaving. "Even though people usually do after saying that." He then mumbled.

  
\---

  
Bando entered Echo base again and found the rest of the Ghost crew waiting for him. "What did they want?" Kanan asked, in which Bando just turned and stared at him, surprised.

  
"She didn't tell _you_?" Bando asked.

  
"I didn't want to know. I want to hear it from you." Kanan replied.

  
"Well... I was sent to lead a mission with a team of my choice." Bando said, waiting to spring the surprise.

  
. . .

  
"That's it?" Ezra asked.

  
"Right after being promoted to Colonel." Bando then purposefully said with a monotone.

  
"That's amazing." Sabine congratulated.

  
"We're happy for you." Ezra said.

  
"Don't get too excited yet, guys. He still has a mission for a team." Kanan said.

  
"The usual team?" Ezra asked.

  
"The usual team." Bando replied. Bando's usual mission team consisted of: Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, Rex, and occasionally Geoff. Geoff joined him on missions when Bando could confirm that he could go unnoticed.

  
"You gonna get Geoff this time?" Kanan asked.

  
"I got the perfect idea for him." Bando answered.

  
\---

  
"Hidey ho neighbor. Got another mission?" Geoff asked via hologram. He hadn't changed much, except his hair, which was grown out and blonde. Talking-through-hologram was Geoff and Bando's only nearly untrackable way of communication, and Bando contacted him once and a while for missions and to catch up with him. Geoff had been successfully living a normal life, with a job as a waitor and husband. When Bando contacted him for a mission, his picked team was present with him.

  
"Yes, but I have _some_ time to kill. How's Ailla?" Bando asked.

  
"Oh, she, and I, are doing very well. Thanks for asking. What's the mission info?" Geoff asked.

  
"Wait, who's Ailla?" Ezra asked.

  
"My wife." Geoff answered, pleased to see Ezra again.

  
"Whaaaat?" Ezra exclaimed quietly, with some excitement. "Bando, you never told me that about him." He whispered to Bando.

  
"Ezra, just, hold up. I gotta fill him in." Bando informed, making a pushing motion with his hands. "We're rescuing an unidentified figure from a citadel. And, if possible, break some others out."

  
"Well that sounds about no harder than any other mission. What do you got for me?" Geoff asked.

  
"This mission will be hard for you to stay undercover on, so I made you a new suit." Bando gladly replied.

  
"Sounds promising. What's on it?" Geoff asked, excitedly.

  
"Strong, but not too heavy armor, complete face-covering mask, jetpack with multiple functions, boot jets in case the jetpack breaks down," Sabine stifled a laugh there, "And pretty much everything you'll need."

  
"Sounds right. Where do we meet?" Geoff asked.

  
"We'll meet halfway at Ison." Bando replied.

  
"I can get there in a parsec. You may want to hurry if you want to beat me there." Geoff challenged, shutting off the hologram.

  
"Hey! No fair! Let's go." Bando said, rushing out of the room, his team following behind.

  
"Bando, there's no serious rush. Calm down." Ezra said, failing to catch up to him.

  
"This is an exercise Geoff and I like to do a lot. Practices our speed." Bando said, stopping.

  
"Why are you insisting we hurry? Where does he live?" Sabine asked.

  
"Mataou." Bando replied.

  
"Oh. Yeah, he's probably gonna get there first." Sabine said.

  
"Yeah, especially if we keep lollygagging." Bando said, rushing off again.

  
Bando had everyone wait for him on his ship while he went to get Geoff's suit. In the rebellion's spare time, more than a year ago, Bando first formed his team when he went to retrieve his shuttle back on Lothal.

  
Bando returned, dashing to his ship a few minutes later with Geoff's suit in two levitating crates, and Rex following behind. Sabine had already started the ship and started slowly lifting off. Bando used the force to push the crates onboard before launching _himself_ onboard, and helping Rex onboard.

  
"Don't touch." Bando commanded Ezra, pointing down at the crates. Ezra looked at him with fake-offence, failing not to show the grin on his face. Bando stepped up to the controls, where Sabine was sitting. "You know where." He said, before Sabine entered the hyperspace coordinates and hurled the ship into lightspeed.

  
\---

  
Geoff was zipping through hyperspace in his advanced, salvaged -somewhat scrapped, but working- Naboo Starfighter for a short while. Once he was notified he was coming up on his destination, he slowed the ship down and came to a stop.

  
"I'm here." Geoff heard through his comm.

  
"Where? I don't see-"

  
_**CLANK** _

  
"Oh." Geoff mumbled sarcastically. "Bando, I think the top of your ship just bumped the bottom of _mine_."

  
"Yeah, got that." Bando replied. "Okay, so move around and dock your ship to mine and we'll go on from there."

  
"Got it." Geoff replied, moving his ship up, then around and under Bando's ship. A figure-fitting tube emerged from Bando's ship and connected to the canopy of the Naboo Fighter's.

  
"How do I get up from here?" Geoff asked.

  
"You ready for this?" Bando asked.

  
"Ready for what?"

  
Just then, Geoff saw himself swiftly disappear then appear inside Bando's ship with Bando, Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb.

  
"Oh my gosh! I feel like I just got turned inside out." Geoff said, leaning on a wall and grasping his stomach.

  
"Are you blind?" Bando asked, stepping up from the pilot's seat.

  
"No."

  
"Ok good."

  
"What _was_ that?" Rex asked.

  
"Project S. T3k." Bando answered, suddenly gaining Geoff's full attention.

  
" _That's_ what that was? A teleporting device?" Geoff exclaimed.

  
"Yep. I've had a lot of help along the way."

  
"Is it true that he's been planning on this since he's been with the Empire?" Sabine asked.

  
"Yeah. He was only able to get a little bit done every couple years." Geoff said. "I guess he benefited from you guys?"

  
"I guess." Ezra replied.

  
"Okay. So... This my suit?" Geoff asked, pointing to the crates.

  
"Um, _yes_. Check it out." Bando suggested as Geoff removed both lids and laid the entire suit on the ground.

  
"I admit, it doesn't look like much, but that's until you actually try the thing out." Bando said.

  
"I'll take it. As long as the Imps won't recognize me." Geoff informed.

  
"Oh believe me they won't." Bando said, assuringly.

  
"Well, you got a place for me to change?" Geoff asked.

  
"Yeah. Sabine, take control while I show him around." Bando told Sabine, sternly. Bando somewhat developed a distant-friend/friendemy relationship with Sabine, but was a little friendlier than usual, which was alright, considering, well, this is Bando I'm writing about.

  
\---

  
Geoff returned to the cockpit, in full armor, with Bando by his side. He then activated his new lightsaber.

  
"Well, that suits you." Sabine complimented, turning around to see the new armor. (Just imagine the original Luke Skywalker concept art.)

  
"Where have I seen that before?" Ezra asked.

  
"I found each part of this suit in the dumpster of an old film studio, secretly kept them and refurbished them, reproducing this, I would call, masterpiece." Bando said.  
"Well, I'm mission ready. We coming up on the citadel... where did you say it was?" Geoff asked.

  
"Oh, I forgot to mention that! We're going to Nothoiin." Bando answered.

  
"Really? The home of the gold-skinned? This should be a piece of Dewback steak." Geoff said sarcastically.

  
"Isn't Dewback steak tough?" Ezra asked.

  
"That's the point, Ezra. During the past ten years, the Nothoiins have gotten tougher, especially with the Empire's occupation has massly fueled them." Sabine said.

  
"Well we have two former sith, a Jedi, a strong Mandalorian, and a tough Lasat with us. It shouldn't be too hard." Ezra pointed out.

  
"Wait. Where is Zeb?" Sabine asked.

  
"He's prepping his gear." Rex answered.

  
"Back on topic, the mission may be hard, it may not be. But the force will be with us." Bando said.

 


	20. Chapter 20

  
Chapter 2 **(Chapter 20)**

  
***Knock knock*** "Zeb, we're almost there." Ezra called, knocking on the guest room's door. Immediately after, he heard a snore get interrupted, an oblivious grunt, a bang, then an exclamation of pain. Ezra covered his mouth as he laughed. The door opened and Zeb stood there, rubbing his head. Ezra stood up straight and stopped himself from laughing, then repeated, "We're almost there."

  
"Alright, I'll be there." Zeb replied, going to get his stuff. Then he heard Ezra run off and start laughing.

  
Ezra went back up to the bridge, where the rest were waiting for him.

  
"What was he doing?" Sabine asked.

  
"Absolutely nothing." Ezra replied sarcastically, hearing Zeb approaching from behind. He then whispered to Sabine, "He was sleeping, then hurt himself waking up." Sabine just rolled her eyes, giving a small smirk. Zeb came by and smacked Ezra on the back of his head.

  
"Coming up on Nothoiin." Bando announced, standing at the controls and staring out the window. Seconds later, they emerged from hyperspace with Nothoiin in view. It was a dark planet, resembling Coruscant, with its lights all over the system.

  
"For a planet populated by gold people, you'd think it'd be brighter." Zeb said, not really impressed at the sight.

  
"You forget the Empire took over. This place was once as bright as you'd expect a planet could get, but the Empire stripped it of its resources for itself." Geoff explained.

  
"Just like Lothal." Ezra muttered.

  
"What was that?" Geoff asked respectfully, hearing Ezra's quiet mutter.

  
"The same thing that happened to Lothal happened to this place." Ezra said. "Lothal used to be a beautiful, shining city, until the Empire arrived."

  
"You're from Lothal?" Geoff suddenly asked, hints of curiosity in his tone and expression.

  
"Um, yes." Ezra replied, now getting curious.

  
" _And_ you're Jedi." Geoff said to himself, receiving a realization.

  
"What?" Ezra asked. Geoff just looked at Ezra, about to reply.

  
"It was you." Geoff finally replied.

  
"What... was me?" Ezra asked, suspiciously.

  
"The Empire's presence on Lothal. It was you. They heard the rumor of a force-sensetive being on Lothal, so they dispatched a division there to seek him out." Geoff said.

  
"And?" Ezra asked, insisting him to go on.

  
"Hate to break up the history lesson, but we've already landed." Bando said, facing them from his chair. Ezra and Geoff looked out and saw some rocky terrain, in which they were hiding behind.

  
"Sorry, I'll explain later." Geoff finished.

  
"Fine." Ezra responded.

  
The ramp lowered from the back of the bridge, and they all stealthily exited the ship, weapons raised.

  
"All clear." Bando whispered loudly, then they moved on to a hidden path in a cave.

  
"Um, Bando... How far away did we land?" Ezra asked.

  
"Far enough that we're out of range." Bando answered.

  
"Okay. That's good, I guess."

  
"It's as good as we'll get. We have quite a few yards to go before we end up under the citadel." Bando said, activating an LED light on his helmet.

  
"Since when did _you_ have one of _those_?" Aang asked.

  
"Since I found out these work better as 'night lights' than lightsabers do." Bando replied, analyzing more visible details than he could with a lightsaber.

  
For a few instances, nothing but boots crunching on the pebbled ground was heard. Aang was looking around at the cave, suddenly curious at how it was discovered, and who else might know about it. "Hey, do we know if the occupants of the prison tower know of this _'shortcut'_ to their basement?" He asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

  
"Oh heck no." Bando replied. "We're here, actually." Bando then said, looking up and seeing an 'X' scarred on the cave ceiling.

  
"You've been here before?"

  
"Yep."

  
"Of course you have."

  
\---

  
Bando and Ezra's lightsabers cut through the ground, forming a circle and making that bit of ground drop to the cave ground. The Jedi jumped up, and Ezra and Bando helped Sabine and Zeb up. They all looked around in the empty, dusty room.

  
"Wow! We really were under the basement." Zeb confirmed.

  
"Over here." Bando whispered as the others saw him moving some heavy crates. Zeb ran over and simply pushed them over.

  
"Before you ask that question, I didn't use the force to move them, because there are sensors in this place that can detect anything out of the ordinary, like the force." Bando said as he saw Zeb open his mouth to speak.

  
"Oh, so we can't use the force?" Ezra complained.

  
"Not unless we're detected." Bando clarified.

  
"Ok well let's hurry. If we stick around, we'll surely get caught before we need to." Geoff said.

  
"Agreed. Let's get moving." Bando said.

  
"Wait, wait, wait, hold on. You've been here before?" Aang asked again.

  
"Yes."

  
"What's the security like here?"

  
. . .

  
"Like Clone Troopers." Bando said in a sarcastic serious tone before running off into the citadel.

  
"You know none of us were in the Clone Wars right?" Aang replied before he and the others followed him.

  
They were all now in the citadel, and there, with the basement, was a computer listing where the cells are. Sabine looked through it. "You happen to know where this mysterious person is?" Sabine asked Bando.

  
"I was lucky enough to receive a specific cell, yes. Cell 1214." He replied as Sabine looked up the cell. "Well?" Bando asked.

  
"It's... the most heavily guarded cell... on the top floor." Sabine said in worry. Bando seemed to be in shock.

  
"Bando?" Geoff waved a hand in front of his face.

  
Bando slapped his hand away saying roughly, "Hey! I wasn't daydreaming."

  
"What _were_ you doing?" Geoff asked.

  
"It's just... placing Jedi in the most heavily guarded cell in the place where the most security is... was one of _my_ strategies." Bando explained, running a hand across his helmet.

  
"And... What's the big deal about that?" Ezra asked.

  
"I _never_ used that strategy, and _never_ shared it with anyone." Bando said. "The only other person that could know is... me."

  
"Only _other_? Wait! No. Didn't you say _he_ died?" Aang asked.

  
"Yes but there are more of them, remember?" Bando reminded again, putting them in thought. "Just wait a minute. I need to know." Bando closed his eyes and focused. He thought of his last and only encounter with his clone, and sensed for a signature nearby... And nearby, one was. But luckily not near enough.

  
"We need to hurry, another clone is coming." Bando said as they all dashed down the halls. They entered a nearby elevator, and once the doors closed, Bando turned to the other force-sensetives. "Guys, if we get in a tight situation, I'm just saying, we might need to break beyond our comfort zones and do whatever we might need to do to survive, if we were to make it out alive and with the prisoner." Aang and Ezra looked at each other.

  
"What are you saying?" Ezra asked.

  
"We might need to let out some darkness." Bando said. Aang gave Bando a serious disagreeing look.

  
"I'm afraid we can't do that." Aang said.

  
"But I could." Geoff said. "And I'm sure _you_ could to. That might be all we'll need." He added, motioning towards Bando.

  
"I'm not so good with that, but if we _do_ get in a tight spot, I'll admit it may be our best shot at escaping." Aang said.

  
"As long as you all think so." Bando said, turning back around as the elevator opened to a regular cell block.

  
" _This_ is the top floor?" Rex asked, confused. Bando looked to the screen on the top of the elevator, and it read _'top floor.'_

  
"No, it's not." Bando replied, also clearly confused.

  
"Bando, you said you were here before." Rex said.

  
"I have, I just never visited the top level. I was recuing people from the middle and lower levels." Bando said.

  
"Then if this is the top level, the prisoner is here." Ezra said.

  
"No, no, I noticed that this tower has a spire on top. There's more, we just can't get there by the lift." Bando said. "So, I guess we're moving up manually. This way." Bando said, running out.

  
\---Moments earlier---

  
On the top level of the citadel, an Imperial commander was having a conversation with the original head of the citadel, concerning the revolt and side-choosing.

  
"It's very ironic that you were betrayed by what you helped build. Shows just how weak your Empire is." Balia Terrix said, showing her disinterest in the way she turned away from the commander.

  
"I have no quarrel with your people, not that I _can_. I simply request you transfer this prisoner to more Imperial hands, for more security." The commander insisted.  
"And if the rebellion was to somehow seize this person, what then?" Balia asked, swiftly facing him.

  
"That won't be possible." The commander said.

  
"Then explain how a group of street rats rescued the princess of Alderaan from your top-secret, and now destroyed, weapon." That stopped the commander. "I will recall a story from the Clone Wars. On Lola Sayu, the Separatists held a Jedi prisoner, and a team of Republicans were sent to _rescue_ that Jedi, but things turned out badly for them: they lost the one they were sent to rescue, and not many were left of their team."

  
"What's your point?" The commander asked.

  
"I'm saying the Empire won't get the job done, Separatist Battle Droids will." Balia said, making the commander chuckle.

  
"All Battle Droids were shut down. Disabled." The commander said.

  
"I find your lack of history disturbing... and amusing. Four years ago on Agamar, there was an entire company of active droids, and the Empire was sent to deal with them and rebels who just so happened to be present." Balia proved the commander wrong again. "Not knowing events of history like that, shows that you're not doing your job properly." She added.

  
"Um, mistress?" One of Balia's servants called, catching her attention. "You may want to see this." Balia and the commander stepped over and saw security camera feed and saw Bando in the front of an elevator.

  
"What is _he_ doing here?" Balia asked.

  
"Oh, Bando Roscoe is _always_ welcome." The commander said. Balia turned around and blatantly slapped him.

  
" _Idiot_! You really know _nothing_. That Bando Roscoe is a traitor. And look," She forced his head to look at the screen, "He's _not_ alone. And where are your guards?"  
"Um."

  
"You really can't do anything. I will rely on battle droids for this one." Balia said, pressing a hidden emergency button.

  
\---

  
"So, I guess we're moving up manually. This way." Bando said, running out. But he only went a yard before blast doors closed at every exit.

  
"Well we've been discovered." Ezra said, emphasising the last word by giving Bando a stare.

  
"Better time than never." Bando said.

  
"What's our plan?" Aang asked.

  
"Melt the doors." Bando said, igniting his still-red lightsaber, aiding up to the doors, and stabbing straight through them, slowly, slowly, corroding little bits of the door at a time. Sudden turn of events happened when the blast doors behind them opened up, revealing expanding teams of battle droids.

  
"Oh not again." Rex grumbled, raising his blasters towards the droids, he and Zeb firing at them. Bando, Aang, Geoff, and Ezra blocked incoming fire with their lightsabers, while Sabine threw bombs and fired at them.

  
"These guys aren't wise if they think battle droids can overcome four extremely experienced force-sensetives." Geoff said.

  
An intercom went off at that same moment, letting them know someone's literally watching them. "And that's why there's more than battle droids." Balia's voice emitted. Then, Heavy Super Battle Droids, Destroyer Droids, and worst of all, Commando Droids, popped up at the scene.

  
"Ok Ezra, take me seriously right now. Those Commando Droids are not to be taken lightly!" Rex shouted over the blaster fire.

  
"Why no-"

  
_**BOOM** _

  
A Commando had flipped into the air and kicked Ezra directly in the face, knocking him down.

  
"That's why!" Rex shouted again, doing all he could to take out the Commandos.

  
Ezra recovered quickly and sliced the Commando's legs, making it tumble over itself. "Okay, I get what you mean." Ezra replied to Rex. Three Commandos flipped over, and Ezra started wildly swinging his lightsaber around, trying to slice them, but only one of them was hit. One of them whacked at Ezra's hand, making Ezra drop his lightsaber. They were about to shoot him down, but Zeb grabbed them both and threw them into the other droids.

  
"Do what Rex says." Zeb said.

  
"Well it's not like we'll encounter them again after this." Ezra replied.

  
Bando spun his lightsaber around in his hand, blocking some blasts in his path, the old voice appearing in his head again.

  
_'Bando! Hel-'_

  
" _ **NO**_! _**NOT AGAIN**_!" Bando then created a force-lightning-repulse, powering off every droid in his path, which wasn't much, but included all Destroyer Droids.

  
Zeb spotted the camera in the ceiling corner and shot it, eliminating Balia and the Imperial commander's view. " _ **NOW**_!" He then yelled. All Jedi then used all their force to slam all droids into the nearest wall, crushing them. Bando saved one of them.

  
"What are you going to do with that?" Aang asked.

  
"You'll see." Bando replied, standing the droid up, using the force to move it. He activated a voice changer in his helmet and tested it out. "Rodger rodger." He sounded exactly like a battle droid.

  
"Well _that's_ cool." Ezra said.

  
"Now watch this." Bando then said, still with his droid voice.

  
\---

  
"Activate emergency camera." Balia immediately ordered. "And send more droids down there." The emergency camera activated, and it was right beside the blast door. There, they saw a battle droid. Balia was confused, but snapped out of it and asked, "Are you the only one alive down there?"

  
"Yes, mistress." The droid replied.

  
\---

  
"Yes, mistress." Bando replied, standing near the screen, but remaining out of sight.

  
"Are the rebels dead?" Balia asked.

  
"Yes, mistress." The "droid" replied.

  
"And what are you standing there for?" Balia asked.

  
"I require maintenance." The "droid" answered.

  
Balia put some serious thought into this, then, coming up with a plan, said, "Very well. A droid escort will take you there, I will be there shortly to question you. Remain there."

  
 _'They treat their droids like actual soldiers. Cute.'_ Bando thought sarcastically. "Rodger rodger." He finished, then the screen shut off.

  
Just then, the blast doors opened and there were two Commando Droids. "What!?" They recoiled as they saw Bando standing there with his blasters aimed at them.

  
"Rodger rodger." Bando said, then shot them down.

  
Rex just laughed.

  
"Have you been telling him stories again?" Aang asked with some jealousy.

  
"Um, well, yeah." Rex replied.

  
" _Come on_ , you know I want to hear some stories." Aang said.

  
"I'll try it when I can." Rex said in defense, still grinning.

  
"Shall we get going?" Bando asked, motioning towards the hallway.

  
"Not so fast!" Balia's voice called.

  
"Snap! That was fast." Sabine said.

  
"Did you forget we were only a level apart?" Balia asked.

  
"Good point." Zeb mumbled.

  
"You all are skilled to have defeated my small army in that amount of time, though, you do have the _original_ Bando Roscoe on your side." Balia complimented.

  
"Original?" Bando asked.

  
"You're the first one. The original one from which all the others were cloned." Balia informed.

  
"How many others?" Bando asked, igniting his lightsabers.

  
"More than there are inquisitors." Balia replied.

  
"Alright enough." Bando said, throwing himself over to her, swinging his lightsabers. Balia caught both his wrists and pushed him back. "Alright. I can see where this is going."

  
Balia then pulled up a modified electrostaff. Her electrostaff resembled more of a double-sided lightsaber, with the electric pulses being a lot longer than usual.

  
"That's new." Rex said.

  
Balia then flipped into the air and swung down on Bando, making him walk backwards to keep momentum. She was fast with her moves, and Bando could hardly keep up. All that kept up for several long moments, until all their blades locked, then it was Bando's turn.

  
"I admit, you have impressive skills. But it won't be able to save you." Bando said.

  
"I'm not going to fall for your mind tricks." Balia said, trying to stop him from pressing on.

  
"Oh well, if you won't believe it from my mouth, then you're going to have to see it for yourself." Bando said, pushing away all their weapons and placing both hands on her head.

  
"Bando! No!" Aang and Ezra called.

  
Suddenly, Bando's hands started glowing red, then everything around them started to fluctuate, then they found themselves zooming through space. They started seeing everything moving faster than usual, but not for long. Then they sped back down to the planet. They were in the same place as where they were, but it was all dark. Droid parts were scattered everywhere, as well as a lot of skeletons. Burned and torn clothes covered their bodies, then Balia laid eyes upon one skeleton, which was wearing the same official uniform she was wearing.

  
"This is what lies ahead for you." Bando said.

  
"This is hardly phasing at all, death comes to everyone eventually." Balia said, facing him.

  
"This is only in a few hours." Bando then said, making Balia recoil. She was then looking between Bando and her future skeleton. "Now what could make _this_ happen? _Who_ could make this happen?" He then asked.

  
"You're the first one that comes to mind." Balia then stopped her sentence in its tracks.

  
"What?"

  
"I just remembered I'm expecting a visitor, one I believe you're familiar with."

  
"Are you insinuating a clone of mine, one that I've encountered before, is coming here? Well I hate to burst your bubble, but I killed him _years_ ago."

  
"Well obviously not. I had a conversation with him a few weeks ago, and he seemed pretty alive to me. He explained how he _fought **you**_ on Lothal, years ago. He also told me that you all would be coming."

  
"Well if that was true, we might've been dead already." Bando said.

  
"I didn't believe him at first, but it's all making sense now that I think about it."

  
"Did he mention anything else of his encounter with me?" Bando asked.

  
"He said that you narrowly beat him, and that he pretended to be dead when you shot a tiny missile at him, but he pretended too long because he ended up going unconscious afterwards. He _is_ alive. And he is coming."

  
Bando was now afraid, and Balia could see it in his body language.

  
"Well _that's_ turn of event-ah!"

  
\---  
Bando and Balia snapped back to reality.

  
"Why should _you_ be afraid?" Balia asked.

  
"A friend of the Empire, is an enemy of us." Bando replied, gesturing to himself and the crew. "You know how dangerous I am. And by the looks of things, he's about to become _your_ enemy too."

  
"Hold on, what? Who?" Zeb asked.

  
Bando slowly turned to the crew, then said, "The clone I fought a few years ago, he... he's alive. And he's coming here." The room went silent. Bando then turned to Balia, "You have a chance at survival."

  
"I have no intention of joining you."

 

"What? Heck no, I wasn't offering you that. I was just going to tell you that you could take everyone here and escape while you can."

  
"I will not cower-"

  
"There's a difference between cowering and surviving. And right now, it's your best and only chance of survival."

  
"Hey guys," Ezra called out, "They have escape pods here."

  
"Alright! Zeb." Bando said. Zeb nodded, grinned, then knocked Balia out. He then carried and placed Balia in one of the escape pods and launched it out. "I admit," Bando then said, "That felt a little evil."

  
Bando and his team then ascended to the stairway and up to the control room, where Imperials and Nothoiins were present. "Everyone, you're all in danger. We're going to have to tell you to evacuate." Bando said.

  
"Hold it right there rebels!" Stormtroopers said, raising their blasters.

  
Right then, the Imperial commander raised his blaster to the stormtroopers and said, "I'd do as he says."

  
"Sir?"

  
"Well done, Rane." Bando complimented.

  
"Thank you, Bando." The commander, known as Rane Lokar, replied.

  
"Sir?!" The stormtrooper general questioned.

  
"Oh he's not actually Imperial. He's with us." Bando said.

  
"That'd explain why he did such a horrific job acting as a commander." A Nothoiin said.

  
"He really wasn't trying. I'm surprised you guys did a horrific job seeing through his guise. Especially after disposing nearly 90% of the Imperial forces here." Bando said. "Back to business. Everyone should get moving if they want to survive a greater threat that is soon to come." Everyone reluctantly got up and left, not a hint of rebellion from them. Bando and his team decided to be extra careful and followed them to the escape pods. They made sure everyone was out before moving on.

  
"Well, that pretty much clears our path." Ezra said.

  
Bando and the team went back up to the command deck and looked around. "Where is it?" Bando asked quietly.

  
"It's right there." Aang said, pointing to a whole new area behind the stairs, and there was a containment tube, with someone in it. It wasn't clear who it was, but it's who Bando was sent to rescue.

  
Bando rushed over and started working the tube, more like reversing it, and started getting the stranger out. Once quickly done, the tube opened and smoke leaked out and the figure fell to the ground.

  
"Where am I?" The person asked. She was female... and

  
 _'Force-sensitive? A Jedi!'_ Bando thought. "You're on Nothoiin, you were in captivity, but you're safe now. Do you remember your name?" Bando asked.

  
"I feel disoriented. My mind feels clouded, but it's clearing." She said.

  
"Do you remember your name?"

 

"Yes. I'm An'ya Kuro, **_preferably_ ** known as Dark Woman. Jedi of the former Galactic Republic, survivor of Order 66." She replied.

  
"Well that's a surprise. Kanan will be happy to meet another survivor."

  
And just from that sentence, Dark Woman knew that meant that they had been intending to retrieve her, and considering they were seemingly against the Empire -she observed, seeing no Imperials around- they had to be with the rebellion. "I will have no part in your war. I have been successfully avoiding it since it started, and it's managed remain that way." Dark Woman said.

  
"Okay, you're obviously a force to be reckoned with." Ezra whispered sarcastically.

  
"Where do you want to go? We can take you there." Aang asked.

  
"Cophrigin V." Dark Woman answered.

  
. . .

  
"That's more than halfway across the galaxy. Perhaps we could get you a ship, some credits, and you could go on your way from there?"

  
"I assume that's your only option?"

  
"I'm afraid so." Aang replied.

  
"Then it will have to do." Dark Woman said, regaining her strength and making her way to the stairway, followed by Bando and his team.

  
"Alright, here we go. Sabine, do it." Bando said. Sabine suddenly remembered what they were also permitted to do, and started placing thermal detonators at each prison door.

  
"What are you doing?" Dark Woman asked.

  
"We're taking these prisoners of the Empire to expand." Bando said.

  
"You got rid of all Imperial and Nothoiin forces so you could break all of them out? Quite genius, yet very dangerous at the same time." Dark Woman somewhat complimented.

  
"We live for danger." Bando said.

  
Once Sabine was done placing thermal detonators around, they all moved down a level and Sabine did the same on that level and one more.

  
"I'm all out of detonators." Sabine said as they nearly finished the third-highest level of the prison tower.

  
"Well let's get to the ship and blow the doors open. We'll let them in then we'll blast the other doors open." Bando said.

  
"Decent backup plan." Aang said.

  
"We're quite a way up from the surface. I can get us there quickly." Dark Woman said. "Everyone link arms." They all linked forearms, and Dark Woman closed her eyes. Slowly, purple smoke formed all around them, and they disappeared, leaving a dissipating trail of purple smoke behind.

  
They appeared at the bottom floor, some of them a bit dizzy.

  
"Oh my goodness! I've had enough teleporting for a day." Geoff said, grabbing his stomach.

  
"We're a level too high. We came in through the basement." Bando said, igniting his lightsaber and cutting through the ground in a circle. It was a tough, slow process, the ground being really thick. As Bando was progressing, Dark Woman called to her lightsaber, via kyber crystal, ignited it in the hold it was in, and 'flew' it to her. She then went down and helped Bando with the process, Ezra, Aang, and Geoff joining in immediately after. They then reached the basement in no time.

  
Once they reached the basement, they jumped down into the cave. Bando used the force to reseal the floor with the bit they cut earlier, turned on his helmet LED light and they all ran through the tunnel until they reached the outside, where Bando's shuttle was.

  
Bando immediately started the ship up and flew it up over to the tower. He nodded to Sabine, who activated the thermal detinators, blowing up all the doors next to them. Bando then blasted at the building, making a big hole in it so all the prisoners could see the outside. Then he flew his ship to the hole, where all the prisoners were gathering. Bando lowered the ramp and Ezra stood on it. " ** _Prisoners of the Empire_** , **_you all are now free_**. **_Join us now and escape_**. **_We don't have time for questions because... to put it simply_** , **_we're all in danger if we stall_**." The prisoners took it and started boarding the ship, Ezra helping them up. Once done, Bando turned to blast the walls down, then Ezra got an idea.

  
"Hold on Bando, lower the ramp." Bando did so, turning the ship back around. "Force-sensetives, follow my lead." Ezra reached his hand out and tried using the force to pull the wall out. All the others copied his action and helped pull the wall out, exposing the prisons. Bando pulled the ship nearer and Ezra gestured inside the ship, shouting " _ **Everyone come aboard.**_ **_This is a rescue_**." And they immediately obeyed. They continued this action for every level of the ship until the whole building was deserted. All the prison cells weren't filled, but enough of the place was filled that Bando's shuttle was starting to get crowded.  
"Mission accomplished." Bando proclaimed, escaping the atmosphere, and making the jump to hyperspace.

  
\---

  
Bando's shuttle made it out just in time, because Bando's clone exited hyperspace in his TIE Fighter, followed by a new fleet. The original Bando claimed his shuttle before he was cloned, so, like every other sith within the Empire, the clone rode a TIE. He made his way to the deserted citadel tower. Bando went to the citadel tower alone, so he might avoid detection easily. But once he saw the tower and its condition, he started getting fueled with rage. He commed the leaders he took with him and said, "We were too late. It's time for the backup plan to commence."


	21. Chapter 21

  
Chapter 3 **(Chapter 21)**

  
**Hell is about to rain down. School is coming, and I won't be able to post as often... I think**

  
"It's been an hour past checkpoint time. They should've been back by now." Hera said, starting to worry. She and Kanan had been standing, fully prepared, in the freezing weather, waiting for Bando and his team to return. She looked at Kanan, waiting for a reply, but the look on the bottom half of his face spoke for him.

"Right. They probably got caught up in something, and if Bando and Aang are with them, they're _going_ to make it out."

  
"You know me so well." Kanan said, smiling and draping an arm around her shoulder.

  
And conveniently, Bando's shuttle appeared in the sky, relieving both of them. The shuttle came and landed. The ramp lowered, and Bando and his team exited the shuttle. "Open the doors!" Bando shouted, and Kanan went to open the doors. As they opened, Bando and everyone else waved for their new acquaintences to run into the base. Kanan and Hera were shocked at the large number of new allies they had brought back.

  
"How many did you guys get?" Hera asked.

  
"I'm guessing around fifty or sixty. Why?" Bando asked.

  
"Fill me in; describe them." Kanan said.

  
"They're all mixed up. Different species' of different genders. We have many kinds of new recruits here."

  
"Are you alright? I sense you feel troubled." Kanan then asked Bando, who was silent, not quite sure how to break the news to them.

  
"Let's go inside, first." Bando suggested, walking inside first. Then they closed the doors and Kanan and Hera stood ahead of Bando.

  
"What's going on?" Kanan asked.

  
Bando just decided to spill it out. "That clone I faced a few years ago isn't dead." Kanan's blood ran cold at that.

  
"Where's he been the past few years though?" Kanan asked.

  
"I have no idea." Bando panicked.

  
"This is certainly not good. What are we going to do?" Hera asked.

  
"You've _never_ asked _that_ before." Kanan said.

  
"I'm pretty sure none of us have ever been as nervous as we are now. The clone survived a missile and boulders. Who knows what else will lie in store for us?" Bando said.

  
. . .

  
"Bando, who was the prisoner you were sent to retrieve?" Hera asked.

  
"Her name was An'ya Kuro. She said she was preferably known as Dark Woman." Bando answered. "Did you know her?" Bando asked Kanan.

  
"I've only heard of her. She was, different, from, every other Jedi. She was a little more brutal than all the other Jedi, there's a reason she calls herself 'dark.' "

  
"Would you consider her to be, what the Jedi of old called, a Gray Jedi?"

  
"No. Not exactly. Where is she?"

  
"Oh, she was never interested in this war, and has been hiding. We sent her on her way to her hideout, and that's what took us longer than we should have."

  
Moments of silence passed.

  
"I suggest we hunt him down."

  
"No!" Hera sternly replied.

  
"Not only will it be easier for us because he's also looking for us, but we have an amassed army of new soldiers."

  
"Hold on, what do you even know about them?" Hera asked.

  
"They're some of the best rebel militia in the galaxy, and to put it simply: they complied to help us."

  
 _'That's actually somewhat reassuring.'_ Hera thought. "I'll talk with them about it." She said, walking off.

  
"What's on your mind?" Kanan asked Bando.

  
"I don't really know what to say. My mind's still blending up all that I took in." Bando replied.

  
"Name something." Kanan said.

  
"Well... for one thing, I... looked into someone's future, afterwards saving her and everyone at the prison."

  
"We talked about that future thing, Bando. But I'm glad, at least, that you saved many lives. And rescued many more."

  
"And we might actually have a chance at defeating my clone once and for all." Bando said.

  
"It's good to see you so confident, Bando. You've quickly adapted the lifestyle of a rebel."

  
"Well, I still feel darkness within me."

  
"Bando, you haven't had an incident in a long time. You might as well not have it."

  
"You can take me out of the dark side, but you can't take the dark side out of me. Once you go dark, Kanan, you can't get rid of it. Not completely."

  
\---

  
"Hold on! Excuse me." Hera called out to the new group of rebels. "I am Captain Hera Syndulla."

  
"Syndulla?" A Bothan recalled the name. "Are you the Hera Syndulla? The famous pilot? I've heard stories of you and your father."

  
"Well- ha ha- I"

  
"It truly is an honor to serve under such inspirational characters such as yourself."

  
"I came to talk to you about that." Hera said, stopping the conversation from going further. "We're up against probably one of the most dangerous beings to have ever existed. Believe it or not, it's a clone of him." Hera said, pointing to Bando.

  
"A clone?" Someone asked with some disbelief.

  
"Identical. As I said, he's one of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy. We thought he had died off years ago, but somehow he's still alive, and he's out for blood. We're hoping to turn the tables and gain an advantage on _him_ , ending his hunt once and for all. What I need to know is: are you willing to risk your life to save the galaxy from this tyrant?"

  
Everyone looked at each other, all seeming to agree. Then one of them spoke up, "Absolutely. Especially if it means staying outta prison." Some of the crowd laughed.

  
"Are you all sure?" Hera then asked. "We might go up against overwhelming forces during our hunt. Once you go, there's no turning back."

  
"In case you weren't informed, we're rebels too. We know the stakes."

  
"Good. I'll have someone get you all settled and prepared."

  
\---

  
"Bando!" Hera called out. "Bando, how are we going to find out where we can find him?"

  
"Oh that's simple. Invade my Imperial Castle, take them head-on." Bando replied.

  
. . .

  
Hera thought carefully about that, then said, "This is getting absurd... Wait, castle?" Then lightly chuckled.

  
"It's more like an Imperial Complex than a castle. It's the best thing we got. I've already started formulating a plan on how we can do it successfully."

  
"Mind letting me in on it?"

  
"Once I'm done."

  
. . .

  
"How much do you have?"

  
"Just... maybe 12% of a plan."

  
"That's not much. You need to hurry; we might have leave soon."

  
"Hey! I just started."

  
"Alright, alright."

  
"What's going on?" Kanan stepped in.

  
"Bando doesn't have much of a plan for the mission on how we can find where his clone is." Hera said.

  
"I just started."

  
"Well you need to hurry, me might have to leave soon."

  
Bando just facepalmed.

  
"I could probably get done quicker without the hassle."

  
"Right. Good point." Hera said a little playfully while shoving Kanan along. Bando just faced the other way.

  
_'Thank the force. They actually left this time.'_

  
"Hey, Bando!"

  
_'Ugh, **NO!** '_

  
\---

  
An hour or so passed, and Bando had completed and briefed the plan to the rebel authorities. They surprisingly agreed to proceed with the plan. The new group of dozens of rebels were all prepared for battle, and they were all gathered in the main docking bay for the addressing of the final stage of preparation. Hera took the spotlight for the moment.

  
"Alright. Last things to note are: The Ghost will take some of the new recruits, while they split up the rest into other ships. Understood?"

  
Everyone gave out a loud roar of enthusiasm.

  
Ezra was standing next to Bando as this happened, and asked, "Can you feel the enthusiam?"

  
. . .

  
"Bando?"

  
"I don't feel it."

  
"What? How? You've majorly helped the rebellion with all you've done-"

  
"Not that. I- I don't feel darkness. I- it's gone. It feels like, all of a sudden, the darkness has gone."

  
"Well... that's big." Ezra said, a little speechless. "And something to be enthusiastic about." He said, placing his hand on his shoulder.

  
"Ezra..."

  
"What is it?"

  
"Get your hand off my shoulder." Ezra retracted his hand quickly, laughing.

  
Bando just lightly punched his shoulder. "Come on, let's go." Ezra followed Bando to the Ghost.

  
\---

  
"You did it." Hera congratulated.

  
"I did. With your help of course." Bando replied.

  
"No. You came up with this plan on your own."

  
"Oh. Yeah. I thought you meant my journey from devout Imperial to staunch rebel. You all helped me." Bando then gestured to the Ghost crew.

  
"We do what we can to help who we can." Hera said.

  
"Yeah. Now let's help the galaxy." Bando said.

  
"I gotcha." Hera replied, lifting off the ship.

 


	22. Chapter 22

  
Chapter 4 **(Chapter 22)**

  


 

  
Several stormtroopers patrolled the ramparts of the building, some eagerly waiting for some action. But being one of the most secure places in the outer rim, action was unlikely. But it was all about to change. They could hardly see twenty yards ahead because the sky was gray, and fog was coming down. That made it especially hard for stormtroopers to see.

  
They paced back and forth for several moments, then they heard a whirring sound in the sky.

  
"What's that?" One of the troopers asked.

  
"Hear that sound? Those are the shrieking mynocks." Another answered.

  
"No. It's a constant sound and it's... getting louder." The other replied.

  
"That means it's getting closer."

  
"Sound the alarm and ready the guns."

  
One of the troopers pressed a button along the inner embrasures, and an alarm went off in all the troopers' helmets, warning them of incoming invaders. Imperial Combat Drivers manned the guns. They all waited for the intruder to show. The sound kept getting louder, and closer.

  
Then two X-Wings appeared in their sights, but due to the fog, they were too late to fire. The X-Wings fired first and took out the guns. All the guns on each rampart started firing up at them. The X-Wings dropped torpedoes on them, before looping around and firing at the rest of the guns. They repeated the action on the back and front until there were no guns left.

  
The security realized that the rebels had the higher advantage, and dispatched all their troopers around the complex. They stood there, guns cocked and aimed, waiting for more. The man-in-charge looked through his macrobinoculars to find anyone through the fog. Moments passed, then he saw a shadow in the distance. "At the ready." He said. The troopers were ready to fire. Then the shadow emerged, and there stood Bando. 

"It's the _traitor_ Bando." The troopers waited for more, and more they got. Several more appeared, revealing the rebellion and the Ghost crew. The stormtroopers were getting uneasy, pretty much knowing they wouldn't make it out.

  
Then they saw all the rebels starting to walk forward.

  
"It's a head-on fight they want. Their weapons are holstered." The leader said, walking forward also, his pack following.

  
Then the rebels started running, the Imperials mirroring their actions. Both sides dashed towards each other, then they collided, all involved in heavy fist fights.

They all beat at each other for a while. With the Ghost crew, Bando got through well. The rest of the rebellion occupied the security outside.

  
The main crew found themselves at the gate. Bando used the force to push the door down. Then in the front bailey of the place, where various Imperial troopers waited for them, Bando simply threw a thermal detonator over at them before they could take in some blaster fire. More of them appeared at their presence, then Bando ignited his lightsabers and dashed forward. He stopped in front of the troopers and sliced at them, while blocking blaster fire. Soon, they were all disposed of.

  
"Alright, Bando. Lead the way." Hera said.

  
They went through the baileys and courtyard of the place before reaching the keep. Ezra, Sabine, and Zeb blasted at the militia in their path, then they reached an elevator. Bando, Ezra, and Geoff went up while the rest guarded the lift.

  
"How do we find out where your clone is?" Ezra asked.

  
"Clones are identical to me, not involving which side I'm on. And here, I keep a log and schedule, which tells me where I need to go." Bando replied.

  
"You need one of those?" Ezra asked.

  
"My last schedule was to move to Lothal for you-know-what, and who knows if the clone has kept track of anything here. Just hope we're lucky enough he does."

  
They exited the elevator, seeing a long hallway with a bunch of Death Troopers along the wall, every yard.

  
"Uh oh." Ezra said quietly. But the second the troopers saw them, Geoff stepped forward and jerked his hands around, breaking all their necks.

  
"I guess that works." Bando said. "Anyway, it's at the end of the hall.

  
They swiftly ran and infiltrated the private quarters, and Ezra and Geoff were quite shocked at what they saw.

They got a load of the old, dented helmets on the shelves on the wall. And on the other wall, they saw drawers, "Bando, what're in those?"

  
"That's private. Before you ask why, let's just say we should hope there won't come a time where we have to use them."

  
"Oh, yikes." Ezra then looked back at the helmets. "I didn't know you had that much of a grudge against Mandalorians. Where's the armor?" Bando just looked up at Ezra. "Private, right. Sorry."

  
Bando was behind his desk, looking for his log. He ended up finding it, then looked through it. Bando pulled open a drawer under the desk and grabbed a datacard and inserted it into the computer.

  
"What're you doing?" Geoff asked.

  
"I'm downloading the logs onto this datacard. There's more than I expected."

  
"Wow! This must be our lucky day." Ezra exclaimed, a little suspicious.

  
"Now let's go." Bando said, running out.

  
"Bando." Hera called via comlink.

  
"I copy. What's up?"

  
"We have unannounced company."

  
"I _figured_ this was too easy." Ezra said.

  
"Well this is nothing new, we can handle it. I can sense my clone isn't here."

  
"Well does he know how to cloak his force-signature?" Geoff asked.

  
. . .

  
"We're the same person. I have the ability to sense where he is when no one else can."

  
"That's good."

  
"Yes. Now let's go." Bando said a little impatiently. They ran out into the hallway, then stopped by a window. They saw two star destroyers in orbit, dispatching TIE Fighters. Bando looked at both Ezra and Geoff, and they knew what he meant. Bando backed up to the wall, and Ezra and Geoff readied themselves. Bando ran and jumped out the window. Ezra and Geoff used the force to boost him into the air.

  
Everyone down on the ground heard the loud _'crack-boom'_ as Bando then activated his boot jets. He then ignited his lightsaber, pointed it forwards, and kept flying straight. With the help of the force, his jets, and his lightsaber, he cut a hole through a star destroyer, then went back and reunited with Ezra and Geoff.

  
They saw the star destroyer slowly descending and all focused, using the force to try to keep it up. Bando pulled up his comm and contacted Aang and Kanan. "We need your guys' help keeping a falling star destroyer in orbit."

  
Aang went back outside and looked up at Bando through the window and saw what Ezra and Geoff were aiming their arms at, then saw the star destroyer and replied, "Got it." He summoned Kanan outside and informed him of the situation. Aang positioned Kanan's arms in place and did the same with his own. He signalled Bando, letting him know they were ready.

  
"Guys ready?" Bando asked. They nodded and focused harder. Bando joined them, slowing the destroyer down a little bit. Then, it came to a stop.

  
"Now what?" Aang asked, straining his voice as he now used three arms to help hold the destroyer while he used the other to comm Bando.

  
"Move it." Bando replied. They all used all the strength they had to push the star destroyer out of the way, slowly. "Can you guys hold it?"

  
"Probably." Geoff replied.

  
"Sure." Ezra agreed partially.

  
Bando jumped out and activated his boot jets and went up and helped push it, with the help of his jets, muscles, _and_ the force. It moved faster than before, and Bando pushed it into another star destroyer, knocking it off balance. The other star destroyer thrusted forward, trying to resist the plight, but only provoked it more. Parts of the ships were falling apart and down. Man, you can bet _that_ commander's gonna be dead meat soon. That was stupid, but realistic, as far as Imperials go.

  
Soon, an explosion erupted between the star destroyers, crippling the hulls and anything underneath. Bando used the force to keep the debris from hitting the ground, and the rebel militia, and threw it all at any stormtroopers he could. The rest retreated to the castle. "Guys, _you_ got a _little_ company headed your way." Bando commed the Ghost crew.

  
The Ghost crew gathered outside, facing the stormtroopers. They aimed their blasters at each other, waiting for one another to make a move. Then, Bando flew in and landed with the crew, facing the stormtroopers, who all dropped their weapons. "Now, we're going to leave this place, and we expect not to have any trouble. Understand?" The troopers nodded their heads and the Ghost crew walked by, the stormtroopers could do nothing but glare. One of them did something about it.  
"You're public enemy number one. You know that right?" The trooper asked. Bando and the crew stopped.

  
Bando turned to him and answered, "Um. Yeah. Why?"

  
"You're the biggest traitor the Empire's ever known."

  
"I kno-"

  
"Just like your father."

  
. . .

  
"Oh shoot." Ezra gasped quietly, covering his mouth as he, Kanan, Aang, and Geoff sensed a rapidly rising darkness growing, radiating around Bando.

  
"You were just as big as a disappointment as-"

  
        "GRAAAAAGH! GRGH!" Bando screamed as he pulled out his two rarely-needed vibroblades, launched himself at the trooper and stabbed him. The other troopers picked up their guns and started blasting him. Bando dodged them and used the force to hold them in place, then made chunks of his castle come out and shove  the troopers into the wall, crushing and burying them. He used the force, again, to pull the rest of the star destroyer remains over to destroy the whole building. He and the Ghost crew swiftly ran out of danger's reach. As the entire fortress exploded, Bando ignited his lightsabers, swung them in the air, then gave out a loud, raspy, victory scream. The Ghost crew and Geoff were quite shaken by the new development in the last minute. Bando fell to his knees, after the adrenaline drained, and regained his good consciousness, then realized what he had done.  
  
"Bando." Hera managed to choke out.

  
Bando jumped up and faced them, his hands shaking. All senses of malice, hate, and rage were gone, and replaced with fear. "Did I hurt you guys?" Bando asked quietly.

  
"No. But-" Ezra tried.

  
"What have I done?" Bando asked, looking at his trembling hands.

  
"Bando." Kanan also tried.

  
"I can't do this." Bando said.

  
"Bando, this is nearly the same as some other incidents."

 

" **Are you kidding me**? **Look at this**! **I've never done anything like _this_ before**!" Bando raised his voice, motioning towards the burning building.

  
"Bando, just calm down." Aang said.

  
"I can't. I just can't do this. If I live as a rebel, imagine the damage I might be able to do. If anything was to happen, I, I can't afford to lose more than I have already." Bando said, activating his boot jets. He dropped the card he got, and Hera cought it.

  
"Bando." Hera called, realizing what Bando was actually doing. "You can't leave."

  
"I have to." He said, going up a little, then stopped. "Do me a favor?" Hera nodded. " _If_ that card doesn't work, contact Hondo. I got him to give you his secret ally for free, and he has an inside source that knows where the clone is. Just ask him." Then he flew off.

  
"What are we going to do?" Ezra asked, quietly.

  
"We find out where that clone is, and we take him down." Aang said.

  
"Agreed. We defeated him once, we can do it again. Hondo has a secret ally, and those six Jedi Padawans. That might just be enough." Hera concurred.

  
"Bando has done much for us. We should do this for him." Aang said.

  
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Hera finished.

 


	23. Chapter 23

  
Chapter 5 (Chapter 23)

  
A week had gone by since Bando left the Ghost crew, after the incident. No activity had happened between the Empire and the rebellion. The Ghost crew was planning for their greatest mission, and the Empire was simply waiting for the rebellion to act up. It was a rare, peaceful time for the citizens of the galaxy.

  
        Bando's clone stood in front of the wreckage of his castle. Gray skies had populated Lothal for that past week, no more fog to show, but it was sort of misty. He looked around, the ruined columns and broken walls standing up, while burned, charred, and crushed debris of the rest of the castle and remains of two star destroyers laid in the wreckage. The clone walked in the middle, and removed a boulder from a pile of debris. He then picked up a half of a stormtrooper helmet, and noticed some blood splattered on it. He immediately looked down and picked up the next thing he saw. The skull of a skeleton. It had some visible, withered skin and flesh.

  
"Over here!" The clone called, and to his side came some properly dressed Imperial scientists. "Bring this body back to your lair. The time to strike may be near."

  
"Yes sir." They both replied, carrying the mauled body on a stretcher. Bando remained at the site as the other Imperials evacuated the area. Soon after, he fell to his knees, his head downward.

  
 _'What is it?'_ A voice asked.

  
 _'It is nearly finished. The Jedi will soon die.'_ Bando's clone replied.

  
_'You fully believe your plan will work? You know that compared to me, you might as well have no experience in the field.'_

  
_'Oh please, my original has separated from the rebellion, and they stand nearly helpless. And I'm still here, with the Empire.'_

  
_'Search your feelings. Any flaw within you will betray you. Any mistake will cost you.'_

  
_'I have some of the most powerful allies within the Empire, of which Phoenix Squadron has barely escaped. And together, we stand superior. Powerful. They won't stand a chance.'_

  
' _Any mistake will cost you. And remember, I expect results soon. You fail, and you will be my next subject.'_ Bando's clone then saw the sky going red, clouds and fire swirling around in the sky. Eyes of fire and a voice of thunder cried out, knocking the clone back. He got back up and looked up, the sky was normal.

  
"I will not fail." The clone said.

  
\---

  
The Ghost crew sat in the common room, still getting over the shock of losing Bando, but managed to occupy themselves in their time. They played Dejarik, had conversations, and talked about their mission. The card Bando had ended up getting a little burned in the wreck. The crew had the basic plan on getting to where Bando's clone might be, but there was the problem of whether or not they could trust Hondo with his new recruit.

  
" _Can_ we trust him?" Hera asked in disbelief.

  
" _Maybe_. Bando said we could." Ezra answered.

  
"We'll never know if we don't do anything about it like we've done the past week." Kanan said.

  
"Are we sure we've gone over all the alternatives?"

  
"Several times. Hera, we need to make the call." Kanan replied.

  
"As much as we don't like him, he's the only option we have." Zeb said.

  
Hera gave in, sighed, then asked, "How many of you are alright with this?"

  
"We all are." Kanan answered.

  
"Fine. Contact him."

  
"Yes! Finally!" Ezra exaggeratingly exclaimed. He turned on the hologram on the table and entered the digits to contact Hondo. Moments later, Hondo appeared on the hologram.

  
"Heloooo-oh yikes! Judging by the looks on your guys' six and a half faces, this is not a social call is it?"

  
"Business call." Kanan replied.

  
"Ah yes. What I might help you with?" Hondo asked.

  
"Bando told us that he convinced you to let us have your secret ally for free. We're going to need all the help we can get for our upcoming mission." Hera replied.

  
"All the help eh?" Hondo grinned, stroking his chin. "I can do _more_ than _one_ ally."

  
"Your five Jedi Padawans." Ezra said.

  
"Oh! Yes. I wasn't referring to them, but okay. Bando did tell me of what you're up against, so I will be happy to help you. For him." Hondo said.

  
"Is he not with you?" Hera asked.

  
"No. A week ago, he told me that he would be disappearing to who knows where." The Ghost crew were certainly disappointed to hear that news. "Where might I rendezvous with you to discuss things?" Hondo then asked.

  
"Over Bespin." Kanan replied.

  
"I'm actually on my way there right now to meet an old friend. I guess I'll have to tell him that I have to delay now."

  
"How far away are you?"

  
"Uuuuuuh, maybe... two parsecs. I had to stop to refuel, my last position was over Indellian."

  
"Well then, thank you for your cooperation." Hera said a little discomfortingly, then turned the hologram off as Hondo started laughing. "Let's get going."

  
\---

  
"Hahahahahahahahahaha. She just said that, like I was an Imperial prisoner." Hondo wheezed out. He calmed down, then turned on his comm system and said, "The time has come, my friend. Be ready, and get everyone."

  
\---

  
"You're sure you want to do this?" Senator Mon Mothma asked.

  
"Absolutely, we already got more than enough allies to help us." Kanan said. "Some of which are Jedi."

  
"There are more?" Mothma asked, surprised.

  
"Hey, you can never be too sure." Kanan replied.

  
"This may be enough. I'll give you Gold Squadron."

  
"Thank you, Senator." Kanan thanked, turning to leave.

  
"Master Jedi." Mothma called, catching his attention again. "May the force be with you."

  
Kanan smiled, then said, "You too."

  
\---

  
"We good to go?" Hera asked.

  
"Everyone's present and accounted for." Aang said.

  
"That's a yes." Geoff added.

  
The Ghost lifted off Hoth's atmosphere, followed by Gold Squadron. They entered space and jumped to lightspeed. Once in hyperspace, Hera swiveled around in her chair and faced Geoff.

  
"Geoff, I must thank you for sticking around for this. It means a lot to us."

  
"I'm doing it for Bando. He kinda knew something like this would happen, and told me that you'd need all the help you can get."

  
"That kid." Hera muttered, smiling.

  
"Remind me where we're going." Geoff said.

  
"Bespin."

  
Having nothing more to say, they simply sat back and waited to arrive at Bespin. And _doing_ nothing made time go by. Before they knew it, they had already arrived at Bespin, and Hondo's ship was waiting for them. Hera docked the Ghost onto it and commed Hondo. "Alright, Hondo. We're here."

  
"I can see that, my friend. I'll be waiting at the airlock."

  
"I can't wait to get this over with."

  
"Hera," Ezra piped up, "Cut him some slack. Like I said long ago, he's helping us."

  
"Ezra, you know Hera. When it comes to pirates, she's not very fond of them at all." Kanan told Ezra.

  
"At least tolerate him for Bando. He convinced Hondo to help us for free, and more. He gave us the opportunity to win our upcoming battle."

  
"It's not entirely Hondo I'm concerned with." Hera said.

  
_'Oh.'_

  
"I see." Ezra said.

  
"I honestly respect these kind of moments, but we don't have time to worry right now." Aang said.

  
"You're right. Let's get going." Hera said, moving along.

  
"Don't want to keep Hondo waiting." Ezra added, following Hera to the airlock.

  
\---

  
The airlock door opened and Hondo stepped through. "Well, hello there. That took you guys longer than expected. I thought you'd _never_ arrive."

  
"Very funny." Kanan said, sarcastically. "We're here, now we should get to work."

  
"Ah yes. What is your plan exactly?" Hondo asked.

  
"Bando told us you know where his clone is, after we find that out, we can formulate a full plan." Hera replied.

  
"Very good. I have it all in here. If you would follow me." Hondo gestured inside his ship and walked back. The crew followed him to his cockpit and Hondo activated a hologram, showing a star destroyer in orbit, alone, over Sullust. "He is aboard that star destroyer over Sullust."

  
"Sullust is going to be a new vital location for the rebellion." Hera whispered to Kanan.

  
"Then we should hurry." Kanan replied. "Okay, we don't want any chances of this clone surviving, so if we're unsuccessful at defeating him head-on, then we'll blast the ship to bits."

  
"Sounds like a plan." Hondo said, clapping his hands together.

  
"It's our best and quickest shot I guess. So who's this ally we're working with."

  
"Oh that's right. Well, you guys knew him... uh... I'm honestly asking you to believe me when I say he's different than before. A _lot_ different."

  
"O-kay. Bring him out." Ezra said.

  
"He's just behind the door. **Hey**! **They want to see you**!" Hondo shouted.

  
The door opened, and the figure stepped from the shadows.

 


	24. Chapter 24

  
Chapter 6 **(Chapter 24)**

  
As the figure stepped from the shadows, Ezra, Kanan, and Aang ignited their lightsabers. They grimaced at the nearly-six-foot, red and black tattooed Zabrak.

  
"Before you do anything, hear me out." Maul said.

  
" _ **How** _ are you still alive?" Ezra growled.

  
"I second that." Aang agreed, successfully not giving in to his temptations.

  
"I... have unfortunately been restricted from revealing that information." Maul replied.

  
"That's what you wanted to say?" Kanan asked, his emotions unclear.

  
"No. It wasn't." Maul cleared his throat, then continued. "Our paths intersected on Malachor with one reason: to defeat our enemies. Mine was to kill Kenobi, and yours was to defeat the sith, those of which I hear are still alive. And now that I know Kenobi is gone, I seek a new purpose for the rest of my life." The Jedi stood silent and unmoving.

  
"It really kills me to say this, but he does seem different." Ezra said, unigniting his lightsaber.

  
"How?" Kanan asked.

  
"I don't sense evil."

  
"What are you talking about? You know who- look at who you're talking about!" Kanan gestured to Maul.

  
"I seem to remember his eyes glowing yellow, like the Inquisitors we faced, but now."

  
"Now what?"

  
"They're blue. Something has definitely changed, I don't even sense the cold."

  
"Eye color does not persuade me." Kanan replied.

  
"I assure you my intentions are sincere, otherwise I wouldn't have taken a job with Hondo." Maul said.

  
"And that's saying something. He once took over my base back in the Clone Wars." Hondo said.

  
"You might as well have let me. Your so-called soldiers were pathetic."

  
"I agree, they did not benefit much."

  
Just then, Ezra received a realization. "Although," He said, "Aresko and Grint were brought back to life somehow, and died shortly after we dealt with evil Bando. Maybe the same will happen with him."

  
"That's kinda persuasive. But who's to say he won't prevent us from disposing the clone?"

  
"I would like to say something: at this point, we might miss the chance to strike." Hondo intervened.

  
"For once, he's actually right." Hera said, actually making Hondo laugh.

  
"Oh you flatter me." Hondo said, recovering from his laugh. "Take Maul and the Jedi-rates with you."

  
\---

  
The Ghost crew boarded back on the Ghost with the reinforcements, and closed the airlock door. The Ghost crew turned and stared at Maul, who noticed. "What?"

  
"We expect no more than help from you, understand?" Kanan asked.

  
Maul just rolled his eyes, " _Just_ like Hondo, I'm giving you help. I'm not _forcing_ you to do _anything_ against your will. And as long as threats like this don't keep growing, we may not cross paths again. You might as well, at least look forward to that."

  
"Indeed." Kanan agreed. "Stay here with the Padawans while we discuss things." The crew strolled off to privately talk through the plan.

  
"So, go over the plan with me again. I didn't catch some of it." Ezra requested.

  
"You didn't miss much. Hondo's going back to get more reinforcements, somehow, and he's coming immediately to Sullust to help." Sabine replied.

  
 _'Captain Syndulla, did we get our reinforcements?'_ Gold Leader commed.

  
"Affirmative Gold Leader. We're going to be receiving more soon. Let's all head to Sullust now." She replied as she set hyperspace coordinates to Sullust.

  
During the ride to Sullust, Ezra and Kanan went down to chat with Maul and the Padawans. "Alright guys, this is probably going to be our most dangerous mission yet. Might be our last. We need to make it count. But no matter how many times anyone thinks that, they all end up surviving. So what we're going to do is: board the star destroyer over Sullust and place detonators where it'll hurt the ship most, and once we're out of there, we blow it to bits. I t doesn't sound like much, but the main objective is to kill the sith aboard the vessel."

  
"Sounds simple enough, we got enough for the job." Petro said.

  
"As long as you guys are okay with it." Kanan said.

  
"And I assume you want me as bait for the sith you want to draw out?" Maul suggested.

  
"Didn't think of that, but yeah. That would be perfectly fine." Kanan replied.

  
Maul slightly scowled at that. "This bickering will get you nowhere. For now, we're a team, and we need to trust each other. A _little_ would be enough."

  
"You... really have changed." Ezra said.

  
"You're not trusting him again are you?" Kanan asked in disbelief.

  
"Well, I don't have the same bond with him as I did when I first met him, then he died, and somehow came back, and I didn't sense it."

  
"I'm not sure it works that way, Ezra."

  
"Well, _something_ is different."

  
"Just don't get too into it. We need all our focus to be on the mission."

  
\---

  
The Ghost arrived over Sullust, the one and only star destroyer in orbit and sight. A moment later, they were getting blasted at, and TIEs were getting dispatched.

"Aang, did you turn on the cloak?" Hera asked.

  
"Oops."

  
"Get to it, we might still be able to get in if we disappear."

  
Aang pulled up the switch and pressed the button. The sparks flew across the ship, and bits were disappearing, biuut not all of it. "Come on!" Aang hit the bottom of the remote and it worked. The TIE Pilots were confused and looking around for a sign for where it was. The Ghost just flew into the empty docking bay and the crew quickly scurried out, all with bags of explosives. And they saw the power was off.

  
"Power's off? Is someone else already here?" Aang asked.

  
"Not our concern right now, you guys know what to do." Hera said.

  
No teams split up this time. If they wanted to ensure success, they'd need all their strength together when they face Bando's clone. Before they reached the end of the hangar, they heard the TIEs, X, and Y-Wings starting the fight outside. Their first course of action was to place detonators all around the main reactor core.

Getting there was when they decided to split up. Chances of being seen there, together, were big, and they couldn't take that chance.

  
They all entered the reactor core through all entrances, stealthily. They were ready to be spotted, so they were ready to drop their explosives bags and rech to their weapons. But when they took a good look around, they were truly surprised.

  
"There's no one here." Ezra said.

  
" _That's_ suspicious." Kanan replied.

  
"But I sense multiple people on this ship."

  
"But where _are_ they?"

  
Kanan and Ezra put that in thought as they placed their detonators around the core. They stepped back and signalled everyone else. They were all present, and the looks on all their faces showed the same level of suspicion, even Maul. They met back outside the hall.

  
"I think we might already be in danger." Maul said.

  
"I hate to agree. We need to find them." Kanan said, and the crew followed him as they explored. They came by a window and looked outside, and saw that Hondo hadn't arrived yet.

  
"Why am I not surprised that Hondo isn't here?" Hera asked. And coincidently, Hondo's ship, along with many others of the same kind, appeared out of hyperspace.

  
\---

"Heeeeeeeere's Hondo!"

  
\---

  
"Hey, sometimes he does it right." Ezra said.

  
"No time for this, let's get moving." Kanan interrupted. The crew resumed their mission, but it stopped again as they rounded the next corner. There, several stormtroopers were there waiting for them.

  
"Hands up!"

  
Maul stepped forward, igniting his still-damaged, salvaged, old, double-bladed inquisitor lightsaber. Grinning at the troopers' fear, he jumped up and landed in the pack of stormtroopers, who were shouting at the others to fire. The Jedi emitted their blades, prepared for unwelcome attention, but the troopers' attention was on Maul. He used his lightsaber, mainly, to block blaster fire, and knocked them unconscious with his mechanical legs. One of the troopers backed up into a dark section of the room, and Maul chuckled. He jumped forward, thrusting his metal "claws" at him. But it was caught. Maul was then thrown back.

  
Maul recovered and stood up. The dark of the room was lit up with the purple blades of the Bando clone. "Well well well. A little bonus. Didn't I tell you it would work?"

  
Just then, Darth Vader stepped up from the shadows, igniting his lightsaber. "I am indeed impressed. The Emperor will be most pleased with our victory."

 


	25. Chapter 25

  
Chapter 7 **(Chapter 25)**

  
There the rebels stood, almost hopeless, against the two most powerful men alive. The rebels readied themselves for their final fight. Darth Vader, and Bando Roscoe's clone, against the Ghost crew, Maul, Aang, Geoff, and untrained Padawans.

  
Vader and the clone approached them, and the rebels started walking backwards at the same pace. Maul and Geoff were held in place, not by the sith, who noticed and were confused. The doors behind them closed, leaving Maul and Geoff with the sith.

  
"What?! No!" Ezra shouted, against the doors, which had windows.

  
Geoff turned to Ezra first, "I may not have gotten to know you very well, but it's been an honor serving beside you."

  
"Despite our differences, I feel the same." Maul said.

  
Then, one red lightsaber came in through the wall, worrying the rebels even more. The blade circled around until a hole was pushed out. Then out came that all-too-familiar helmet wearing former-Imperial, relieving the rebels.

  
"Bando!" Ezra shouted, then noticed something different about him.

**(This was a quick sketch; it could've been better, but I was on a time crunch)(You won't know of any difference, as I have never posted a picture of him before. I'll post a picture of him in Chapter 1. So check it out later, then go back to this; you'll see the significant difference. Though if you're perceptive, you could probably guess.)**

  
"You guys aren't going anywhere." Bando told Geoff and Maul. He approached Geoff and held out his hand. "Together?"

  
Geoff took it and shook. "Forever."

  
"Friends?"

  
"Until the end."

  
Bando ignited his lightsabers and stood alongside them. He then looked back at the Ghost crew, and said, "It has been an honor knowing you all. Ezra, even Sabine, Zeb, Hera, Aang, all of you."

  
"Bando! Let us through."

  
"I can't do that. You guys need to go while you can, bottom line. Go." Bando then used the force to quickly pull a chunk from the roof to block the door and the window. He then turned around and faced his allies. They nodded at him, then faced the sith with determination.

  


  
"I admit, I did not expect you to show up again." The clone said.

  
"I could say the same."

  
"Although, I again forsee the result of this confrontation, as I have forseen Phoenix Squadrons' Ghost crew's moves."

  
_'He's gonna start monologuing again.'_ Bando thought.

  
"I foresaw what you were going to do at the citadel, but I was too late to catch you. But, I obviously made the right move at my castle."

  
"What?"

  
"I foresaw and played out everything that happened. I peered over to you and temporarily blocked any trace of the dark side from you so I could give it back to you full blast after that stormtrooper brought up you-know-who to get you to leave the rebellion. And _this_ was the result of everything proceeding the way it was planned. Three die, one survives."

  
"Check your math. There's five of us."

  
"They're stalling." Vader interrupted impatiently.

  
"My apologies, Lord Vader. Let's get this over with shall we?" And the two sides lunged at each other, starting their fierce duel.

  
\---

  
The rebel crew was back at the Ghost, preparing to take off.

  
"Kanan, you know Bando and Geoff wil die. We can't leave them there." Ezra said in panic as Hera started taking off.

  
"Ezra, this sacrifice is for the greater good. We can blow this station up and Vader and Bando's clone will die too."

  
Ezra didn't want to admit or think that Kanan was right, but submitted anyway.

  
\---

  
"You are all going to die, don't you know?" Maul asked aloud as he and Bando were fighting Bando's clone, and Geoff was occupying Vader.

  
"I think not. Did you not hear what I have said?" Bando's clone asked. "I foresaw everything you did. After you all left the reactor core, I had your detonators removed."

  
"But you wouldn't forsee me putting them back, would you?" Bando asked.

  
"What!?"

  
"I've been on a journey recently, and I've gained much, and I am now _more than you_. I can overcome your predictions and most importantly," Bando knocked him down -and Maul helped fight Vader- and continued, "I am better than you."

  
"No. I still know more than you." Bando's clone disappeared again, but Bando immediately used the force to bring him back and knock him down again. "But our arrogance still blinds you."

  
" ** _No_**! I will not be beaten by the likes of you, my greatest enemy."

  
Bando leaned in close and said," _You're_ your own greatest enemy." Then stabbed the clone through his chest, slowly killing him. Bando remained and sensed as the life in his clone drained bit by bit. "It's ironic." He then pulled up a detonator switch and pressed the button. Several _'booms'_ erupted throughout the ship.

  
"You all go, I'll hold him off." Maul said to Bando and Geoff, who didn't argue, who obeyed his command. Tried to, anyway. Vader kept them there, using the force to knock them out. Maul focused back on Vader, raised his lightsaber, then said, "This is how you die."

  
        Vader just swung down on him, but Maul dodged and carried on with his array of attacks, varying all over. They traded strikes for a short moment, then Maul punched Vader, making him stumble back. Then the _'booms'_ grew louder and closer and knocked them to the ground. Maul, being older, took more time recovering than Vader did. Vader simply got up and headed to one of the escape pods. He chose to do so, knowing he would rather have all three of them die and he survives, than take more time killing Maul himself and die along with them.

  
Bando and Geoff woke to the sparking hallways and loud-growing booms. They stood and all three of them looked around.

  
"This is where our paths come to an end, I'm afraid." Maul said.

  
"Despite being so nervewrecking, it was fun working with you all. Even, uh, sorry, hornhead." Geoff said.

  
"My name is Maul."

  
"Geoff. It was a remarkable experience fighting with you."

  
"Likewise."

  
Bando faced Geoff, "Friends?"

  
"Until the end." They shook forearms, then awaited their fate.

  
The Ghost crew, pirates, and the rebellion saw the star destroyer explode, and they were deeply sorrowed for their loss.

  
Yet cheerful for their victory over the Empire.

 

_But it wasn't meant to be._


	26. Chapter 26

  
Chapter 8 **(Chapter 26)**

  
The Ghost crew and Gold Squadron had gathered back on Echo Base, greatly relieving General Dodonna. Once the Ghost crew met him inside the base, Hera noticed Mon Mothma's absence and asked, "Where might Senator Mon Mothma be?"

  
"She's on a mission with Admiral Raddus on Mon Cala. A friend of Raddus's is helping them set up a base."

  
"Admiral Ackbar?"

  
"Correct. I am going to meet up with her shortly. General Rieekan will be in charge of the base." General Dodonna said.

  
"Well General, after some serious consideration, we have some rather unsettling news." Hera informed.

  
"What is it?"

  
"We lost some of our allies, Bando and his friend Geoff, during the mission. On our way back, we thought about how much the Empire has been after the rebellion _mostly_ because of us." Hera saw concern growing on General Dodonna's face before continuing. "We're..." She looked around at the rest of the crew, who all nodded, urging her to continue. "We're leaving."

  
General Dodonna couldn't form words. His expression was sort of unclear.

  
"Don't get the wrong idea. We're not quitting being rebels. We just thought that if the Empire wants us so badly, then they can come after us. We want to start our own rebel faction somewhere else in the galaxy. The main reason is that we don't want the Empire to keep numbering their forces to overtake all this." Hera motioned around her. "If they want us, then they'll go after us. By doing that, it'll divide their forces."

  
"I understand." General Dodonna said. He paused for a moment before extending his arm forward. "It was a real pleasure having all of you with us."

  
Hera shook his hand and said, "We're still a part of the rebellion. We'll always be here if you need us."

  
The crew took turns shaking hands with the General. On their way out, Dodonna called after them. "Ghost crew!" They all turned to him. "If you're going to leave, let us give you a proper departure ovation." He then turned, put two fingers in his mouth, and let out a loud whistle. The rebels stopped their work and looked his way.

"I regret to inform you all that the Ghost crew will be departing from us. Now don't worry, I've been informed that they'll be starting a rebellion elsewhere, we can always contact them if we need them. Now, I want us to give them a proper departure ovation." The room erupted in applause for several long moments.

  
The Ghost crew slowly took in the moment, and as it ended, the crew saluted the rebels, who all saluted back. Once done, the Ghost crew turned around to get to the Ghost.

  
"Ezra!" The voice of none other than the one and only Princess Leia called out. Ezra stopped and faced her.

  
"Hey princess."

  
"A lot of us are going to miss having you all around all the time, right?"

  
"Yeah, I know. But this is for the greater good. It's better for the rebellion."

  
"I see. Well... goodbye then."

  
"See you soon princess."

  
"Hey kid." Ezra recognized that scoundrel's voice. Grinning, he turned to him.

  
"Han." Ezra replied.

  
"Be careful out there. You never know what you're going to encounter." Han said a little sarcastically.

  
Ezra laughed a little, then said, "Take your own advice." Making Leia chuckle. "Where's Luke?"

  
" _That_ kid's scouting the area."

  
"Okay. Tell him I said bye."

  
"Sure thing, kid." Han replied.

  
Just then, Ezra was embraced tightly from behind, then lifted into the air. "Grarrrrrgh."

  
"Sorry. I'll miss you too, Chewie." Ezra said, laughing while struggling to breathe.

  
Chewbacca put Ezra down, let out some quiet growls, which Ezra understood and replied, "I wish I could stay too, but it's for the greater good. See you around hairball." He then rubbed around the top of his head. Chewie bid farewell back.

  
"Commander Bridger." Dodonna called out, yet again, catching Ezra's attention. "May the force be with you."

  
"Thank you general. You too."

  
Ezra met back up with the Ghost crew aboard the Ghost. They were starting to prepare to leave, then noticed Rex and Aang staying back outside.

  
"What's going on?" Kanan asked.

  
"If it's all the same to you, *sigh* I'll stay here with all them." Rex motioned towards the base.

  
Kanan approached Rex and said, "Through all the good and unpleasant times we've had together, I didn't think it would end like this."

  
"I didn't either. But my place is here, amongst other soldiers."

  
"Can't argue with that." Kanan replied. He backed up and saluted him, the others doing the same. Rex saluted back. They lowered their arms, and Rex retreated back to the base.

  
"I've always liked him." Kanan said.

  
"No you didn't." Ezra remarked, making Kanan grin.

  
"Aang?" Kanan then called out, apparently snapping Aang out of a trance.

  
"Huh?"

  
"You okay?"

  
"Well... I've had a vision. And..."

  
"Oh?"

  
"Yes. And I... I'm afraid I'm going to have to actually leave the rebellion."

  
"What? Why?" Hera asked loudly.

  
"Well, the force is calling me for a bigger purpose for my life. I envisioned starting a Jedi team of my own in an unclear time in the future."

  
"And you need to leave to make that happen?" Kanan paused for a moment. "You can't argue with the force. Do what you need to do to get more Jedi in the galaxy."

  
"I will roger that." Aang said, then laughed. He side-hugged Kanan, then went around bidding the rest farewell.

  
He fist-bumped Zeb, then they bumped their foreheads together. "Goodbye Zeb. Good luck beating my score on dejarik holo-chess."

  
He shook hands with Hera, "Good luck with your faction, pretty much the greatest captain in the galaxy."

  
"I second that." Kanan said.

  
Aang patted Chopper on his dome, then said, "Farewell ya' li'l rust bucket. Keep causing trouble."

  
"I'm going to miss my tech-buddy." Sabine said.

  
Sabine and Aang shook forearms, and Aang replied, "Same here."

  
Aang side-hugged Ezra, then as Aang departed, Ezra saw that he was holding a card. The card read

  
_Keep in contact, and this between us. For now._

  
_81100_

  
Ezra laughed and shook his head, thinking _'That guy'_ as he stuffed it into a pocket.

  
"I will contact you guys from time to time. It was an honor to work with all you tough guys, you Jedi, artists of sorts, and... droid." Aang said, making Chopper grumble.

  
"Not sure how much we can do without you." Hera said with a hint of sadness.

  
"Don't worry, I'll always be able to help." Aang replied, grinning. "I'll always be with you guys."

  
Aang stepped out and watched as the Ghost closed the ramp door and took off.

  
_'I'll need my A-Wing.'_

  
\---

  
The Super Star Destroyer Executor caught the distantly flying escape pod, flown by Darth Vader. Some Imperials met Vader in the hallway when he exited.

  
"My Lord-"

  
"The force has granted me a vision. Contact Admiral Ozzel and tell him to dispatch probe droids to the planet Hoth, then, bring him here." Vader interrupted, walking off. "And prepare a squad for ground assault."

 


	27. Chapter 27/Prologue

  
Chapter 9 **(Chapter 27)** : Prologue

 

Maul's POV, days later...

  
        Pain. Pain is all I feel right now. Only, not hatred. I'm crawling on a field of Sullust, luckily alive as I escaped the wreckage of the star destroyer I was on. The other two I was with didn't survive, but I did somehow. I crawl over to a pond and look in and find my face disfigured. The explosions really got to me. It blew off a layer of my skin, taking off my tattoos, and blowing off my horns, leaving me with healing, pale skin and slightly imposing bumps on my foreheard. This is one of the most dreadful experiences I've had in my life. Just a reminder of the times in the junkyards on Stobar before I was found by my... brother... Savage. My broth... Mothe-mother? Mother? Father? I, I remember. I remember everything. My family, and... my name. My true name.

  
"Snoke. My name is Snoke."

 

(All will be explained... Probably not soon, though.)

 

 

 

Y'all Ready for Youth Wars Part II? It's better than Part I.


	28. Youth Wars Roster

Youth Wars Series Roster

 

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**I will update every time I publish a new book. I will include the title and logo.**


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